LOS ANGELES — A series of avalanches in the mountains outside of Los Angeles killed three people, authorities said Saturday, while Southern California braced for more powerful storms that have pounded the area with heavy snow and rain.
A body discovered Saturday morning was one of two people reported missing a day earlier when three avalanches swept backcountry slopes in the San Gabriel Mountain.
One snowboarder was found safe Saturday morning after spending the night on the mountain. “He walked out” and was in good condition, Los Angeles County sheriff’s dispatcher Tracy Meritt said.
Two other skiers were pronounced dead Friday.
Sheriff’s Deputy Luis Castro said officials were “confident that there’s no one else that’s been missing” and called off search efforts.
Meanwhile, swaths of California braced for another bout of heavy weather as the latest in a series of storms swirled toward the state.
Wintry conditions over the past week have already claimed at least two lives, when two skiers died in separate avalanches, and authorities have been on full alert for mudslides and flash floods in areas denuded by last year’s wildfires.
The skiers were killed and the two others were missing after three avalanches swept backcountry slopes in the San Gabriel Mountains outside Los Angeles on Friday, authorities said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Richard Thompson said up to 8 inches of rain would fall in the hills outside Los Angeles starting Saturday evening and that area ski resorts could be pounded by as much as 3 feet of powder.
“There’s going to be very significant impacts,” Thompson said. “Debris and mudflows will be a great concern.”
Several storms have been squeezing rain onto Southern California since Monday.
