Thousands under evacuation orders as winter storm batters California

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Thousands of Californians were under evacuation orders as a winter storm battered the state Monday night, causing mudslides and flooding.

The National Weather Service has forecast heavy rain throughout the state through Tuesday and into Wednesday, following weeks of winter storms drenching California as it experiences a protracted drought.

"No significant letup expected to the recent very wet weather pattern that has been plaguing much of California," it said in an update. "The ongoing heavy rains Monday afternoon across central California will be dropping into Southern California tonight into early Tuesday."

Officials said the death toll from the recent storms climbed by two on Monday to 14.

The NWS forecast office is warning of up to an inch of rainfall per hour for parts of southwestern California on Tuesday. A flash flood warning has also been issued for Southwestern California, including Los Angeles, Glendale and Santa Clarita, affecting some 7.7 million people.

The NWS earlier said that the heavy rains pose the threat of flash flooding and mudslides from Los Angeles to San Diego.

Evacuation orders have also been issued for parts of Santa Barbara County and San Louis Obispo County.

"LEAVE NOW!" the Montecito Fired Protection District said in a statement. "This is a rapidly evolving situation."

The evacuations for Montecito coincide with the five-year anniversary of deadly mudslides that killed 23 people, which Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement was a solemn reminder of how quickly weather conditions can change.

"Our message to Californians is simple: be hyper-vigilant," he said. "There are still several days of severe winter weather ahead and we ned all Californians to be alert and heed the advice of emergency officials."

California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Transportation have both also announced numerous road closures throughout the state due to flooding and landslides.

The NWS said that in the past few weeks, nearly all of California has seen between 400-600% above average rainfall with continued rain on Tuesday expected to further exacerbate ongoing flooding and increase the risk of mudslides in recent burn scar regions.

The storms battering California since late last month are called atmospheric rivers, which are long, narrow regions in the atmosphere that transport moisture from the tropics and can drop large amounts of precipitation on landfall.