STORM'S DELUGE ISN'T LETTING UP

Rain: Records broken in cities throughout the region, with another downpour expected `Sketchiest' rescue of firefighter's career saves 3 stuck in tree after SUV is washed into creek

The persistent rain that has drenched Southern California since Saturday night was projected to continue today, extending the threats of flooding, closed roads and downed trees.

The main band of showers was “wobbling” between Orange and Los Angeles counties Monday and outside the jet stream.

“It's just the way the flow pattern is set up,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist in the Los Angeles/oxnard office of the National Weather Service. “Sometimes they move forward, sometimes they move back, depending on the forces that are acting on it.”

Wofford was expecting a quarterinch to a half-inch per hour in spots through tonight, with more breaks in the rainfall than earlier in the storm.

Today's heaviest rain in Orange County was to hit before 6 a.m. Moderate rain was forecast throughout the day for Riverside and San Bernardino counties. And in Los Angeles County, light to moderate showers will be common with some localized brief-butheavy downpours, the weather service said.

More rain was expected on Wednesday night too, as a colder storm moves in that could lower the snow level to 4,500 to 5,000 feet.

The large volume of rain and snow is attributed to what's known as an atmospheric river: a flowing column of condensed water vapor from the Pacific Ocean that rises and cools to produce precipitation as it moves inland and over the mountains. Some of these

Three people who climbed into a tree after their SUV was washed down a creek in Devore were saved by San Bernardino County firefighters early Monday in what one firefighter described as the most dangerous rescue of his career.

It was one of many such incidents for swift-water rescue teams in Southern California during a storm that is depositing historic amounts of rainfall.

The rescues typically involve homeless people who did not evacuate river areas and motorists who ignored warnings not to drive through high water.

Such was the case in Devore, where a driver of a Chevrolet Tahoe hauling a box trailer tried to find a shortcut and attempted to cross Keenbrook Road, which was covered by water from Cajon Creek, said Eric Sherwin, a Fire Department

spokesman.

The force of the water, however, pushed the SUV and trailer into the creek, with the strong current propelling them downstream until they were stopped by a tree. Two adults and their teenage son escaped from the SUV and into the tree and called

WATCHARA PHOMICINDA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Braving the elements, Ismael Clazola carries his shoes as he crosses a flooded intersection at Foothill Boulevard and Cactus Avenue in Rialto during a heavy rainstorm Monday. Moderate rain is forecast to continue today.

WATCHARA PHOMICINDA — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER An SUV towing a trailer lies in the rocks on the bank of the Cajon Creek near Devore on Monday after it was swept away in the floodwaters earlier that morning.

A person waits to be rescued on the SUV in Cajon Creek on Monday. Fire officials say the force of the water on a flooded road pushed the SUV and a trailer into the creek, propelling them downstream until they hit a tree.