A new weather system, forecast to be the most intense of the past week, was expected to spawn more wind, rain and even small tornadoes in the state, which has suffered an unrelenting barrage of inclement weather.

Wednesday's forecast is "definitely going to be the main event" of an eventful climatological week, Bill Patzert, a specialist at California's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Rainfall was expected to total as much as 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) per hour, which could cause flooding not only in low-lying areas, but in the state's saturated foothills and mountains.

Meanwhile, rising flood waters also were causing problems throughout southern California. Local news programs broadcast numerous reports of stranded motorist who had to be plucked from their cars after becoming trapped by raging flash floods.

Officials warned residents, particularly those near local creeks and waterways, to take the risk in earnest.

"This is not a playground. This is no time to do extreme sports," said Jack Wise of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"Even six inches (15 centimeters) of water in the flood control channels is enough to wash you down the river... There's nobody to hear you scream," Wise said.

Officials in Los Angeles County order the evacuations of hundreds of homes in the shadow of the denuded San Gabriel Mountains, which recent fires have made bereft of vegetation and where there was a high risk of flooding and landslides.

"If you fail to comply, it could result in death," Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger meanwhile has declared a state of emergency in a half dozen southern California counties because of the storms.

Weather officials said the rain would be accompanied by winds between 15 to 25 miles (24 to 40 kilometers) per hour and gusts of up to 65 miles (100 kilometers) per hour.

Heavy snows, rain, winds and lower-than-usual temperatures have buffeted the western United States throughout the weekend, hitting Oregon and California especially hard.

In farm-rich central California, floods earlier this week forced 2,000 people from their homes in Kern county, the local fire department reported in a statement.

Meanwhile downtown Los Angeles has seen days of record rainfall, with cascades of water causing power outages across Southern California, mudslides and rock slides in the area's scenic foothills, and closure of parts of the famed Pacific Coast Highway.

The one bright spot was had by the region's winter resorts, where record amounts of snow created a skiers' paradise just in time for the Christmas holiday season.

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