Heavy rainfall and sudden flash flooding have caused chaos across northern California, submerging roads, prompting dramatic water rescues and resulting in at least one confirmed fatality, officials reported on Monday 22 December 2025.
Tragedy and Rescue Efforts in Redding
In the city of Redding, situated at the northern tip of the Central Valley, one driver lost their life after becoming trapped in a vehicle filling with water. Mayor Mike Littau confirmed the death online, stating the motorist had called emergency services for help. Redding police officers received numerous calls about stranded drivers in inundated areas during the incident.
Detailing the rescue attempt, Mayor Littau wrote that an officer swam out to the submerged vehicle, broke its windows and pulled the victim to shore. Despite immediate efforts to perform CPR, the individual could not be saved. Littau further warned that the weather in the coming days could become even more hazardous for residents.
Forecast Warns of Intensifying Christmas Week Deluge
The National Weather Service has issued alerts for continued heavy rain throughout the festive period, driven by a series of atmospheric rivers set to move across Northern California. A broad section of the Sacramento Valley and nearby regions remains under a flood watch until Friday.
Meteorologists caution that this weather pattern is expected to strengthen by midweek, raising the threat of potential mudslides, rockslides and the flooding of creeks and streams. The Sierra Nevada could see up to 6 feet (1.83 meters) of snow, with high-elevation winds potentially reaching 55 mph (90 kph) by Wednesday. Southern California is also braced for a wet Christmas, with significant rainfall forecast from Tuesday evening.
In light of the severe conditions, the National Weather Service has urged the public to formulate backup plans for any holiday travel.
Localised Impact and Previous Warnings
By Sunday night, the Redding area had already been drenched by between 3 and 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimetres) of rain. Come Monday morning, many local roads were still flooded as street crews worked to clear debris and remove abandoned cars.
One local resident, Dekoda Cruz, was forced to wade through knee-deep muddy water to inspect a friend's flooded tyre business, finding the office in disarray with furniture adrift and tyres bobbing on the surface.
Further east, in the Donner Summit mountain pass near Truckee, firefighters used a ladder to reach residents stranded at a house along the South Yuba River on Sunday. Fortunately, no injuries were reported from that operation.
The current crisis is driven by atmospheric rivers, which are long, narrow bands of concentrated moisture that form over oceans and transport vast amounts of water vapour. Earlier in December, similar persistent atmospheric rivers dumped nearly 5 trillion gallons (19 trillion litres) of rain on Washington state in just one week, pushing rivers toward record flood levels, according to meteorologists.
