LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. — A third powerful Pacific storm pounded California with heavy rain and snow Wednesday, forcing evacuations of hundreds of homes below wildfire-scarred mountains and shutting highways.
Fierce winds howled along the coast and in the mountains, and forecasters warned of rainfall rates as high as 1 1/2 inches an hour on soil already saturated from two days of wild weather that caused urban street flooding in coastal cities, spawned a damaging tornado and toppled trees, killing two people.
Two Southwest Airlines aircraft were struck by lightning Wednesday morning after reaching their arrival gates at Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport, federal aviation spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Two people on one plane reported feeling numb and were taken to a hospital, he said.
