Cyclone Rachel's Remnants Flood Southern California Coast and Southwest

The remnants of Tropical Cyclone Rachel are tearing through Southern California and the Desert Southwest after making landfall in northern Baja California on Saturday night, Oct. 10.

Rachel made its landfall as a tropical system, then turned post-tropical and unleashed coastal flooding, record tides, and flash floods across the region through Sunday into Monday.

Newport Beach took some of the hardest hits. Rachel's swell combined with tides about 20 inches higher than predicted to punch through 20-foot sand berms, flooding an estimated 15 to 20 city blocks. The city has declared a local emergency in response.

In Long Beach, the ocean surge forced the evacuation of multimillion-dollar oceanfront homes. Officials declared more than half a dozen houses structurally unsafe.

The damage spread far inland. The Las Vegas Strip flooded, with about 10 water rescues reported as desert streets turned into rivers.

The National Weather Service has coastal flood warnings in effect for Los Angeles and Orange County beaches through Tuesday at 2 p.m., as the flooding threat continues.

Rachel also made history before it ever reached land: it triggered San Diego's only second-ever tropical storm watch — the first since such alerts began in 2023.

Sources

• ABC7 Los Angeles KABC, Oct 12, 2026 — "Los Angeles weather: temperatures in Southern California"
• IQAir Newsroom (citing NWS/WPC and The Weather Channel), Oct 11, 2026 — "Indoor air quality alert: post-tropical cyclone Rachel, Southwest USA"