Powerful storm slams Southern California, snarls traffic and raises mudslide fears

A big rig dangles over a ramp connecting the 710 and 60 freeways in Los Angeles amid steady rain early Wednesday.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Nancy Marquez hugs her dog Perrito in front of her home on a flooded Woodman Avenue in Mission Hills.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Alex Diaz empties water into the flooded front yard of his father-in-law’s home on Woodman Avenue in Mission Hills.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Miguel Cruz leans on his car outside his home in Mission Hills as water streams by on Woodman Avenue.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Low-hanging clouds blanket downtown Los Angeles.  (Kent Nishimura /Los Angeles Times)

A man walks near the Broad museum in downtown Los Angeles.  (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)

A runner at Main Beach in Laguna Beach.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Blue sky breaks through storm clouds in between rain showers at Ryan Bonaminio Park in Riverside.  (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Clouds over downtown after heavy rainfall.  (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)