Rachel Wet the Roof. This Week's Wind Is Drying the Evidence.
Citium Roofing Solutions ·
The storm that made the news hit the coast. The water that matters on most of our roofs is the water you cannot see yet.
Tropical Storm Rachel did not stay a tropical storm for long. The National Weather Service said that by Sunday, October 11, 2026, it was post-tropical. That did not make it gentle. Figures the Los Angeles Times published the next day, from the weather service, put more than 6 inches on parts of the San Diego County mountains and more than 2 inches on some Los Angeles County mountains. On the Long Beach Peninsula, the swell that came with the storm tore out a portion of the historic boardwalk and damaged houses behind it.
It was only the second Tropical Storm Watch Southern California has been under. Daniel Swain said afterward that the ocean is warm enough to allow another tropical shot in late October or even early November. Then Friday's Santa Ana arrived, before anybody had dried out. We wrote that wind up here: what to check after the October 16 Santa Ana.
Two weathers, five days apart. Roofs fail in the gap.
Where the water went
If you live on the Long Beach Peninsula, this storm was a wave problem. We do not roof that peninsula. If you live in Glendale, Burbank, La Crescenta, Tujunga, Sunland, Pasadena or Alhambra, your version of Rachel was rain on a roof. The mountains took more of it than the flats. A house in La Crescenta or the north end of Glendale is not the same exposure as a house in Alhambra. We still look at both the same way: find where the water got in, and say whether that place is a repair.
On a shingle roof, Rachel was a test of every tab that was already lifting and every pipe boot that cracked in the summer. If the water got past the shingle, it is on the felt or the deck. The Santa Ana this week is drying the surface. The deck does not dry on the same schedule. From the street on Saturday the roof can look ordinary.
Tile
On a tile roof, which is most of La Crescenta, a lot of Glendale, and plenty of Pasadena, the tile is not the waterproofing. The underlayment is. Rain that gets under a cracked or slipped tile sits on that felt. If the felt is still pliable, the job may be local: a few tiles, a valley, a flashing. If the felt breaks when it is bent, the water has been winning for years and Rachel is only the weekend the attic started to smell. The longer explanation is in why a tile roof leaks when the tile looks fine. The short version, this week, is: do not judge the roof by the tile.
Flat roofs
On a flat or low-slope roof the failure is usually a drain, a scupper, or a seam. A tropical remnant drops leaves, seed pods and grit. The drain plugs. Water stands. A seam that was marginal in September gets a bath. By the time the Santa Ana has blown the pond dry, the evidence is a soft line in the membrane and, later, a stain in the room under the addition. Brushing a coating over a wet seam is not a repair. Someone has to clear the drains and open the seam. Flat roofs here are their own trade, and the week after a storm is when that shows.
Book the inspection before the stain
A stain means the water has already crossed the drywall. The bill is then a roof and a ceiling. An inspection this week, while the attic may still be damp and the drains may still be packed with debris, is when the entry is easiest to find.
- One failed boot, one open valley, one plugged drain, solid deck around it: repair.
- Underlayment that cracks wherever a tile is lifted, a membrane blistered across the field, or decking that gives in more than one bay: replacement. On tile, that is often a lift and relay. The sound tile goes back on. The layer under it is the roof that gets replaced.
- Nothing wrong: we say so. A free inspection that ends in “you do not need us” is a finished inspection. The week after a named storm is when the other kind of contractor is knocking.
The visit is free. You pick the day. You get a written scope, whether the answer is a repair, a replacement, or a roof to leave alone. How we separate those is in repair or replacement. The inspection itself is described on roof inspection in Glendale.
If another tropical remnant shows up before November, the roofs Rachel opened and this Santa Ana lifted are the ones that will take water again. The inspection is how you know whether yours is one of them. We will not sell you a roof from a photograph of a storm.
Book the free inspection
Citium comes to the house, checks the underlayment, the drains and the edges, and tells you what Rachel and the wind actually did. No charge. You choose the day. Call 818-531-1277, or book the visit online. Citium Roofing Solutions is at 401 N Brand Blvd, Unit L106B, Glendale, CA 91203.
Book a free inspection Call 818-531-1277 Request it on the estimate form
Questions
How much rain did Tropical Storm Rachel drop on Los Angeles?
The National Weather Service, in figures the Los Angeles Times published October 12, reported more than 6 inches in parts of the San Diego County mountains and more than 2 inches on some Los Angeles County mountains. That is mountain rain, not a single number for every valley address.
My tile looks fine. Can Rachel still have wet the roof?
Yes. Tile sheds water onto the underlayment. Rain that gets under a cracked or slipped tile can sit on old felt while the tile on top looks unchanged from the street. The inspection is a look under the tile, not a look from the sidewalk.
Is this a repair or a replacement?
One failed pipe boot, one open valley, or one plugged drain, with solid deck around it, is a repair. Underlayment that cracks wherever tile is lifted, a flat membrane blistered across the field, or soft decking in several places is a replacement. On tile, that is often a lift-and-relay of the sound tile, not a new tile roof.
Why book the inspection before I see a stain?
A stain means the water has already crossed the drywall. This week the attic may still be damp and the drains may still be full of debris. That is when the entry is easiest to find. The visit is free, and the answer can be that the roof does not need work.
Sources
- Los Angeles Times, Rachel slams Southern California, live updates, October 11, 2026. Rachel was no longer a tropical storm by Sunday. Preliminary National Weather Service figures: more than 6 inches in parts of San Diego County, more than 2 inches on some Los Angeles County mountains. Damaging flooding at some Long Beach coastal homes.
- Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, reprinted by ArcaMax, Here are the threats that remain from storm Rachel, October 12, 2026. Damage on the Long Beach Peninsula. Only the second Tropical Storm Watch in Southern California history. Daniel Swain on the chance of another tropical impact into late October or early November.
- USA Today, Tropical Storm Rachel leaves flooding, damage across California, October 12, 2026. High surf into damaged homes on the Long Beach Peninsula, October 11. California was under its second-ever tropical storm watch.