6 - 8 DECEMBER 1997. CALIFORNIA: RAIN

Associated Press and CNN reported 50 mph winds, eight-foot waves, heavy rain and one death marked the first ENSO-related heavy rains in California. Damage was expected to be lighter in this first storm because the ground would not yet be saturated: the storm was "not major threat". Planning for the storm included stockpiles of sandbags, cleaning of channels, and even a moratorium on weekend laundry to increase the capacity of sewers to handle the storm. Nine inches of rain fell in Santa Barbara. Almost eight inches ofrain washed mud through Laguna Beach, resulting in a local state of emergency. Twenty homes in Riverside County were damaged. Over 10,00 homes were without power for brief periods. A hiker in the mountains of Angeles National Forest died of exposure in the snow. Two people in Los Angeles died in storm-related accidents.