Powerful holiday storm lashes Southern California and brings flash floods, mudslides

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rain and gusty winds leading to evacuation warnings for mudslides in parts of Southern California, bringing near white-out snow conditions in the mountains and hazardous travel for millions of holiday drivers.

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding. Areas scorched by January’s wildfires were under evacuation warnings, and Los...