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Thursday, December 25, 2025

Rain, Winds Predicted for Christmas Day

[Cyrus Azari via X]

[Updated] A powerful atmospheric river storm pummeled Pasadena and Altadena over Christmas Eve, bringing heavy rain, wind gusts, flash flood warnings and mudslide risks in foothill burn scar areas. Officials continued to alert residents near the Eaton Fire zone as saturated soil heightened debris flow dangers.

The National Weather Service reported East Pasadena received 2.65 inches of rain by Wednesday evening, accompanied by gusts reaching 55 mph locally and up to 60 mph across Los Angeles County.

A rare tornado warning was issued for the Pasadena area Wednesday afternoon but was canceled shortly afterward.

Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Los Angeles County.

The storm damaged at least one local business. In Altadena, Sidecca Boutique at 2455 Lake Avenue flooded with four inches of water from front to back, with parts of the ceiling collapsing. The shop had only reopened in November after being severely damaged in the Eaton Fire earlier this year. Neighbors and strangers quickly arrived to help, and the owner said most products and furniture were destroyed, but the community’s support left them optimistic about the future.

Pasadena suffered only minor damage.

“We had no significant incidents, in part due to our proactive stance with public safety, Public Works, and Pasadena Water & Power doing a lot of work ahead of the storm in partnership with LA County Public Works,” Pasadena Chief Communications Officer Lisa Dederian told Pasadena Now.
Derderian said that many people stayed off the roads, which helped with less traffic impact and accidents.

Earlier, Pasadena officials activated the Bad Weather Shelter at Trinity Lutheran Church at 997 E. Walnut St. and distributed sandbags at Fire Stations 37 and 38. Roughly 400 households in Altadena and Pasadena foothills were under evacuation orders or warnings.

Pasadena Fire Department upstaffed rescue-trained personnel and deployed K-rails to divert mud and debris.

Despite widespread outages elsewhere, Pasadena Water and Power reported no customers without service as of its latest update. Regionally, about 10,700 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers lost electricity.

Meteorologist Ariel Cohen of the NWS Los Angeles office cautioned residents to stay indoors.

“It will take less and less rain to create more and more impacts as the ground becomes saturated,” he said.

Derderaian said city crews will remain on standby for the next several days due to ongoing rain and the potential aftermath when the hillsides start to dry out.
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