Big California Mudslide Sign Of El Nino Things To Come

Cars buried in California mudslide yesterday.  

Here's the problem: California desperately needs the rain, given its crushing four-year drought.

They want a wet rainy season, and a lot of experts see the current El Nino weather and ocean pattern as just the ticket to give the Golden State a good dousing over the winter.

However, a lot of the rain might come in tremendous gushes instead of a nice steady drizzle, so mudslides and floods could end up being the big problem

California got a taste of that dilemna yesterday when rain fell on the Los Angeles area. Yay!

But the cheering wasn't that loud because in some areas north of L.A.  the rain came in torrents, leading to mudslides and flash floods that trapped drivers on many roads, including a section of Interstate 5.

The Associated Press says at least 14 people and eight animals were rescued from the floods and mudslides.

Interstate 5 near Fort Tejon, California yesterday.  

On Interstate 5, mud and rocks up to five feet deep covered northbound portions of the highway. Traffic was backed up for miles, and lots of cars and trucks were left askew and partly submerged in mud.

Some cars were almost completely buried in mud. Aerial footage showed one ranch almost entirely buried in mud and debris.

With the prospect of more storms this winter, this kind of problem could become a fairly common thing over the coming months.

That's even as other residents rejoice in the rain.

What makes things worse is ocean water temperatures along the California coast are much warmer than normal, which would add fuel to storms and make downpours more likely and heavier than they otherwise would be.

Here's a video of some of the California storm and flood damage from yesterday: