Good evening, SoCal. We're wrapping up the day for you with the most important stories you need to know and your weather outlook.
Your Weather Planner
This storm has not wanted to quit today, and the rain will continue through the evening with scattered showers across Southern California. Any additional rainfall and snowfall should be on the lighter side.
Showers will finally start to taper off into Friday morning, and conditions should remain mostly dry across the Southland for New Year's Eve.
There is a slight chance we could get some isolated precipitation across the foothills and mountains, but that should be about it as this storm exits the region. Any activity would be focused to the south across San Diego County.
Winds will remain breezy across the passes, mountains and deserts on Friday.
Temperatures will also remain on the colder side with mostly 50s and low 60s across the region. Mountains will stay chilly in the upper 30s and low 40s, with the high desert in the upper 40s.
You can look forward to much drier conditions for the first weekend of the new year!
Tomorrow's Highs
Get your 7-day forecast: LA West | LA East | San Fernando Valley/Ventura County | Orange County
Today's Big Stories
1. Rain inundates parts of Southland, causing flooding, mudslides
Intense rains poured over most of the Southland Thursday, prompting mudslides, debris flows and flooding that made for a messy morning drive that was light due to the approaching holiday weekend, which forecasters said is still on track to be dry.
Snowfall forced the closure of Interstate 5 through the Grapevine early Thursday morning in northern Los Angeles County but later reopened with the California Highway Patrol escorting traffic in both directions. A mudslide blocked traffic and trapped some vehicles on Coldwater Canyon Avenue in Studio City, and flooding blocked the westbound Santa Monica (10) Freeway near the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica.
In Malibu, more than four dozen people had to be evacuated from Leo Carrillo State Beach campground due to flooding, which also led to closures on Pacific Coast Highway. Decker Road was closed at PCH due to multiple rockslides, according to the city, which also reported multiple instances of downed trees blocking roadways. PCH also was closed at Puerco Canyon due to flowing mud.
A stretch of PCH was closed in Pacific Palisades due to a fallen tree that brought down power lines, according to Caltrans.
A winter storm warning will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday in the Los Angeles County mountains, excluding the Santa Monica range. Many mountain areas had received more than a foot of snow by mid-afternoon, with smaller amounts in lower elevations.
Forecasters said light rain would continue to fall into the evening, but the storm system was making its way south.
Click here for live updates.
2. Ahead of New Year, LA County tops 20,000 new COVID cases
As predicted, Los Angeles County topped 20,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday amid what has become a dramatic surge in virus transmission that is continuing to drive up hospitalization numbers and raising fears that a higher death count will soon follow.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer reported 20,198 new COVID infections on Thursday, a number that she said represents a tripling of the number from just a week ago.
The new cases lifted the county's overall total since the pandemic began to 1,669,545. Another 24 COVID-related deaths were also reported, giving the county an overall death toll of 27,625.
More dramatically, the average daily rate of people testing positive for the virus rose to 21% as of Friday — seven times higher than it was a week ago. Last month, the rate was less than 1%.
"We are, in fact, experiencing the worst of the surge at the moment with the rising number of cases," Ferrer said during an online briefing.
The number of COVID-positive patients in county hospitals also continued rising, with state figures showing the number at 1,365 as of Thursday, up from 1,251 on Wednesday. The number of those patients in intensive care was 214, up from 198 a day earlier.
Ferrer said that while circulation of the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 has led to more fully vaccinated people getting infected, hospitalizations continue to be affecting primarily unvaccinated people. She said the hospitalization rate for unvaccinated people is 28 per 100,000 residents, while the rate for the vaccinated has remained relatively flat at 1 per 100,000.
3. Concerns mount over health care staffing shortages as OC COVID-19 hospitalizations surge
Orange County's COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to soar Thursday, with concerns mounting about health care staffing shortages.
The number of hospitalizations zoomed up from 376 Wednesday to 420 Thursday, with the number of intensive care unit patients jumping from 72 to 86. Hospital levels have not been this high since Sept. 11.
"It's going to be quite busy over the next several days," Dr. Regina Chinsio-Kwong, the county's deputy health officer, told reporters in a weekly media call on Thursday. She acknowledged that wait times to drop off patients have been rising.
"This is where we encourage people to be patient ... as [hospitals] transition to accommodate everyone requiring medical care," she said.
Nine of the county's 25 hospitals have set up surge tents to triage patients, as was done during last winter's surge.
4. CDC: Serious vaccine side effects rare among kids 5-11
As pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations surge to near-record levels, the Centers for Disease Control released studies that demonstrate the importance of vaccinating children against the coronavirus.
One of the studies released by the CDC on Thursday showed that serious adverse reactions in kids 5-11 to Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine were very rarely reported. In safety reports submitted by more than 42,000 children in that age group, the vast majority experienced mild to moderate side effects.
Between early November and mid-December, Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS – the United States' vaccine safety monitoring system – received 4,249 reports of adverse events after vaccination. Of that figure, 4,149, or 98%, were not serious.
Of the group, there were 11 confirmed reports of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that has been linked in rare instances to COVID-19 vaccines; of that figure, seven had recovered, and four were recovering at the time the report was published.
5. Police identify officer in fatal shooting of teen, suspect at clothing store
The Los Angeles Police Department Thursday released the name of the officer involved in the shooting at a North Hollywood Burlington store that killed an assault suspect and a 14-year-old girl, who was struck by a stray bullet.
The officer was identified as Officer William Jones, who was assigned to the LAPD's North Hollywood station, according to a department statement.
The Los Angeles Police Department released no other immediate information.
The girl was with her mother in a dressing room, trying on Christmas dresses, two days before Christmas, when she was struck by a police bullet that passed through a wall on the second floor of the Burlington store at 12121 Victory Blvd.
6. Biden speaks to Putin amid 'moment of crisis' with Ukraine, urging him to de-escalate tensions
President Joe Biden on Thursday spoke with Russia's president Vladimir Putin for the second time this month as tensions persist over the Kremlin's placement of troops near the Ukrainian border, during what one official described as a "moment of crisis" for the region.
Biden on Thursday "urged Russia to de-escalate tensions" with Ukraine and made clear that the U.S. will "respond decisively" if Russian troops further infringe on Ukrainian territory, according to a White House summary of the call.
The main goal of the conversation was to set the intention for security talks between the two countries scheduled for early January, a senior administration official said Thursday evening, and the tone of the call was "serious" as the two leaders framed their positions.
President Putin had specifically requested the end-of-year call, and it comes as the U.S. works with European allies "on a common approach" to Russia’s military build-up on the border with Ukraine.
Russia has amassed 100,000 troops in the area, sparking fears of an invasion, but Russia has repeatedly denied that it plans to take such an action. In recent days, Russia has reportedly withdrawn roughly 10,000 troops from the border but has otherwise refused to back off, and the possibility of an invasion remains real.
Your Notes for Tomorrow
- New Year’s Eve
- Two years since the novel coronavirus case in Wuhan was reported to WHO
- FDA to withdraw temporary guidance allowing non-drug manufacturers to produce alcohol-based hand sanitizers
- Susan Arnold to succeed Bob Iger as Walt Disney chair
- The Lakers host the Trail Blazers at 7:30 p.m.
- The College Football Playoff to begin with Alabama vs. Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl at 12:30 p.m. and Michigan vs. Georgia in the Orange Bowl at 4:30 p.m.
In Case You Missed It
From homeless to 'American Idol,' UCR graduate navigates life as a musician
Strolling through Riverside, the Mission Inn's Festival of Lights is the place Rocky Peter goes to take a break when he has writer's block.
"To enjoy the scenery, like the lights are incredible," Peter said.
The Mission Inn's Festival of Lights means family and tradition for most, but it's a symbol of hope and opportunity for Peter.
“I used to be homeless and I used to sing in the streets for random strangers," he explained. "It was the perfect opportunity for me to make some money to pay my bills."
The self-taught singer and songwriter spent much of his childhood in Nigeria, abandoned and used as a child slave before escaping to America without a support system.
He prioritized his education and was accepted into UC Riverside when he got here.
His story put him on the radar of an "American Idol" producer who encouraged him to try out for Season 14.
Click to link to learn more about Rocky's inspiring story.