Heavy Rainfall, Strong Wind Expected Through Saturday in Malibu

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National Weather Service

Malibu is hunkering down for more rain, beginning Thursday evening and going through Saturday. A flash flood watch will be in effect in Malibu from 7 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17 through 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.

According to the National Weather Service, an estimated two to six inches of rain will fall along the coast and valleys, while up to 10 inches could fall in the mountains of Santa Ynez, Ventura and Los Angeles County.

In addition to an expectation of heavy rain (anticipated through 11 a.m. Saturday) a wind advisory was in effect in Malibu through Friday night. Wind gusts could reach 60 mph.

“A storm system will generate strong and gusty southerly winds Friday and Friday night across the region,” the NWS advisory read. “Winds gusting in excess of 60 mph are possible over the offshore islands, interior valleys, and adjacent mountains, while gusts to 50 mph are possible across most of the remainder of the area.”

Following an especially wet January — Malibu netting 7.5 inches of rain over the month — more rain is expected to fall throughout the weekend, bringing with it an anticipation of mudslides and power outages.

A storm in late January of this year resulted in multiple mudslides, causing a closure of Topanga Canyon Boulevard for a week, in addition to power outages, flooding and multiple traffic signal outages across town.

The City of Malibu requests residents who observe unsafe storm-related conditions to place a call to 310-456-2489 ext. 311 through the “One Call to City Hall” program. 

Power outages can be tracked through the Southern California Edison outage map at https://m.sce.com/outage/OutageMap_new.html.

All LA County Fire Stations in Malibu offer free sandbags to residents, with the exception of Fire Station 88 and Fire Station 72, according to the City of Malibu.