Southern California drivers urged to reconsider Christmas travel as heavy rain and winds roll in
Source: AP
By TRÂN NGUYỄN
Updated 11:20 PM CST, December 23, 2025
California officials and weather forecasters urged holiday travelers to avoid the roads and reconsider Christmas travel as a series of powerful winter storms brought relentless rains, heavy winds and mountain snow.
Storms began to move in late Tuesday evening and were expected to intensify into Christmas Eve. Authorities said the millions of people expected to travel across the state will likely meet hazardous, if not impossible, conditions as several atmospheric rivers were forecast to make their way through the state, the National Weather Service warned.
If youre planning to be on the roads for the Christmas holidays, please reconsider your plans, said Ariel Cohen, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Los Angeles, during a Tuesday news conference.
Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding, mudslides and debris flows in areas scorched by last Januarys wildfires. Los Angeles County officials said they were knocking on the doors of some 380 particularly vulnerable households to order them to leave.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/california-storms-atmospheric-river-los-angeles-mudslides-b89fa61ccee7eb96bd66a805fb78e933