California Storm Will Bring Flooding to Areas Burned by Wildfires

California is about to get soaked, whipped and dumped on again.

A robust storm system will sweep in from Wednesday night into Friday, bringing the threat of strong winds, heavy rain or snow to every part of the state.

Officials are especially worried about the risk of flash flooding and mudslides in areas that were recently burned by wildfires in coastal Southern California. But across the entire state, power outages and airport delays as well as road closures from flooding, snow and downed trees are possible as the storm moves through. This system is also churning up the Pacific Ocean and will bring dangerous surf to beaches.

Key things to know

• The heaviest rain and snow are expected Thursday. Some moisture brought modest amounts of rain to the San Francisco Bay Area and Central California overnight and to Southern California on Wednesday morning, but the main event starts Wednesday night and is expected to last until Friday afternoon.

• In Southern California, this storm is expected to be the strongest of the winter so far, raising the risk of flooding on roadways and streams and especially in wildfire burn scars. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, said on Tuesday that he was especially concerned bursts of torrential rain over the burn scars left by the Palisades and Eaton fires in the Los Angeles area could trigger rivers of water, mud and debris. Some evacuation warnings have already been issued.

• In Northern California, rain is expected to be heaviest around the Bay Area and just south of it. Downtown San Francisco is likely to see at least see an inch of rain, and up to about three inches, which could lead to some nuisance flooding.

• This storm is on track to be the biggest snow producer so far this winter, with multiple feet of snow expected in the Sierra Nevada.

Rain will bring a flash-flooding risk to Southern California.

The storm is expected to be the strongest of the season so far for Southern California, which has seen an otherwise dry start to winter, even with the recent rains.

The rain is on track to start out light on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and pick up Thursday afternoon, before ending early Friday. Heavy rain could lead to flooding of roads, small creeks and streams along the coast, but the the biggest danger is the potential flow of debris from areas burned by wildfires, which could be life-threatening.

Santa Barbara County issued an evacuation warning for people around an area that was burned by the Lake fire last year.