A strong Pacific storm is bringing soaking rain to Southern California and raising the risk of life-threatening flooding, mudslides and debris flows, especially near burn scars in the Los Angeles area.

Rainstorms forecast to bring up to 8 inches of rain to Southern California through Saturday have triggered flood watches in fire-ravaged areas.

Around 23 million people across California are covered by flood notices Friday as Los Angeles braces for what could be a month's worth of rain in a day.

Significant rainfall is in the forecast starting Thursday evening and through the weekend for Los Angeles, raising the risk of flooding and possible mudslides in recent wildfire burn scar communities.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A rare October storm pummeled Southern California with several inches of rain on Tuesday, swelling rivers, causing freeway accidents and prompting evacuations in wildfire-scarred neighborhoods where the threat of mudslides was high.

If rain falls as forecast, this storm could result in downtown Los Angeles seeing its wettest November since 1985. Heavy rain brings the possibility of damaging flooding and landslides.