By TRÂN NGUYỄN California officials and weather forecasters urged holiday travelers to avoid the roads on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ahead of a series of powerful winter storms that threatened to slam the state with relentless rains, heavy winds and mountain snow through Friday. Related Arti cles Mexican Navy medical flight lost communication for several minutes before Texas crash FBI: Lyft driver terrorized by escaped Georgia inmates before she was rescued in Florida Explosion at a Pennsylvania nursing home kills at least 2, governor says Supreme Court keeps Trump’s National Guard deployment blocked in the Chicago area, for now Voluminous new Epstein document release includes multiple Trump mentions, but little revelatory news Millions of people are expected to travel across the state. They will likely meet hazardous, if not impossible, traveling conditions as several atmospheric rivers were forecast to make their way through the state, the National Weather Service warned. “If you’re 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. Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding, mudslides and debris flows in areas burned by last January’s wildfires. Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday they were knocking on the doors of some 380 particularly vulnerable households to order them to leave. Most areas saw scattered showers Tuesday morning, and the system was expected to pick up in the evening and intensify into Christmas Eve. Some regions will see rain and winds taper off Wednesday before another storm moves in. Much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area were under a flood watch and a high wind warning through Friday. Forecasters warned of heavy snow and gusts for parts of the Sierra Nevada starting Tuesday that will create “near white-out conditions” and make it “nearly impossible” to travel through the mountain passes. There’s also a risk of severe thunderstorms and a small chance of tornadoes along the northern coast. Heavy rain and flash flooding that started Saturday in Northern California already led to water rescues and at least one death, local officials said. Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson on Monday declared a state of emergency to prepare for more rain and allow the state to help with hazard mitigation and search and rescue operations. Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches , National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said. It could be even more in the mountains. Gusts could reach 60 to 80 mph in parts of the central coast. From right, Ocean Lifeguard Sean Guerin prepares sandbags for Kim Kelly outside the 72nd Place Lifeguard Station in Long Beach, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Drew A. Kelley/The Orange County Register via AP) Norco resident Terry McCauley fills sandbags at a Riverside County fire station in Norco, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, preparing for an incoming storm. (Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP) Norco resident Robert Gray and Terry McCauley fill sandbags at Riverside County fire station in Norco, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, as they prepare for the incoming storm. (Anjali Sharif-Paul/The Orange County Register via AP) Los Angeles County Public Works crew loads sandbags for residents on Monday, December 22, 2025 in Altadena in preparation for the upcoming storm. (Sarah Reingewirtz/The Orange County Register via AP) Show Caption1 of 4From right, Ocean Lifeguard Sean Guerin prepares sandbags for Kim Kelly outside the 72nd Place Lifeguard Station in Long Beach, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Drew A. Kelley/The Orange County Register via AP) Expand Potential widespread flooding, rockslides and mudslides are highly likely, especially in areas burned by last January’s deadly Palisades fire, he added. Officials expect multiple road closures and airport delays during the storms. Downed trees and powerlines are also possible. Parts of Los Angeles were under evacuation warnings starting Tuesday. The county had put up K-rails, a type of barrier, around the burn scar to help catch sliding debris during rainstorms. Residents could also pick up free sandbags to protect their homes, said Kathryn Barger, a Los Angeles County supervisor representing Altadena. “When experts are projecting this type of rain in this short period of time, it’s serious,” Barger said. Many people in burn scar areas decided not to leave after receiving the evacuation notification, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said Tuesday. He urged them to reconsider. “The threat posed by this storm is real and imminent,” he said. Local and state officials are gearing up to respond to emergencies through the week. The state has deployed resources and first responders to a number of counties along the coast and in Southern California ahead of the storms. The California National Guard is also on standby to assist. An atmospheric river is a long, narrow band of water vapor that forms over an ocean and flows through the sky, transporting moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes. Earlier this month, stubborn atmospheric rivers drenched Washington state with nearly 5 trillion gallons of rain in a week, threatening record flood levels, meteorologists said. That rainfall was supercharged by warm weather and air, plus unusual weather conditions tracing back as far as a tropical cyclone in Indonesia. Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento, California, and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed to this report. ...read more read less