A firehose of rain has parked over Southern California, including the Los Angeles area, worsening the risk of flooding throughout Monday.
More than 16 million people are under a rare high risk of excessive rainfall, with parts of Los Angeles expected to receive close to half a year's worth of rain by Tuesday.
The worst of the storm's rainfall will slowly shift south, with the threat shifting from Los Angeles to the San Diego area by Monday evening.
More than 500,000 California power customers have faced outages as an intense atmospheric river lashes the state with heavy rain and strong winds.
Atmospheric rivers are wide-reaching plumes of moisture that act like a firehose, tapping into warm, moist air from the tropics that storms can then unload as drenching rainfall and heavy snow over land.
Scientists are pointing to two factors that are enhancing the rainfall and destructive power of this week's storm - the climate crisis and El Niño.
On Sunday, one man died in Sacramento Valley after a tree fell on him due to fierce winds.
Flights from Santa Barbara Airport were also cancelled Sunday and drivers stranded by flooding in Los Angeles.
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