Warnings issued

Evacuation warnings issued yet again for Santa Cruz County

Amy Graff

Evacuation warnings were released yet again in Santa Cruz County on Monday night as an atmospheric river approached California, less than a week after a similar weather system dumped heavy rain and triggered evacuations in the region, officials said.

Evacuation warnings were issued for Paradise Park and Felton Grove along the San Lorenzo River, Soquel Village and the College-Lake area of Watsonville.

"Heavy rains and run off are expected starting Monday evening through Tuesday," the county said in a news release posted on Twitter. "Residents should be prepared to evacuated and move to higher ground."

The county asked residents to consider leaving their homes before the weather system hits, if possible.

The storm is expected to bring similar rainfall totals to the Santa Cruz area as the last storm with up to 3 to 6 inches possible in the mountains, the National Weather Service said. But the impacts from this storm could be greater than the last because the soils are so saturated due to an unusually wet winter. 

"We’re looking at widespread flooding impacts," Eleanor Dhuyvetter, a forecaster with the weather service's Monterey office, said. "Things are so saturated now that the water isn’t going to go into the soils anymore. Rain is going to collect in low spots and in rivers. That water is going to try to collect somewhere ... there might be water in people’s backyards."

The San Lorenzo River that runs through the Paradise Park and Felton Grove in the Santa Cruz Mountains is expected to rise to "major" flood stage Tuesday night, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center. The river hit a similar level on Thursday night amid the last atmospheric river event. The area was evacuated due to catastrophic flooding in January.