The U.S. Southwest is drying out after a weekend of dangerous weather driven by the remnants of Rachel, which weakened into a post-tropical cyclone as it pushed north into Southern California. Large waves tore apart a boardwalk and smashed into homes in Long Beach, forcing some residents to evacuate.
Las Vegas tied its all-time daily rainfall record for October, recording 1.08 inches (2.74 centimetres) into Sunday morning — a mark first set in 1947, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. Social media video showed water rushing through a street near the Las Vegas Strip.
In Utah, dozens of runners and volunteers from the Moab 240 ultramarathon were evacuated Sunday after flooding stranded them along a course that runs through Canyonlands and Arches National Park. Flood advisories were mostly lifted by late Monday across Utah, Arizona and elsewhere in the Southwest.
South of the border, storms killed five people in Mexico as the same disturbed pattern swept the region. Meteorologist Andrew Orrison said the worst of Rachel had passed but warned that lingering disturbed weather could still bring localized flash flooding into Monday, with the additional rain tied to a separate system moving across the West.
Forecasters expect the precipitation to end by Wednesday, giving crews a window to assess damage to coastal structures in California and desert roads across the Southwest.
