Rain, snow expected to taper off in California after storm

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A drenched California emerged Wednesday from a powerful storm that unleashed rain, snow and raging floodwaters, leaving one person dead and two others missing after they were swept away in a canal.

The National Weather Service says showers and mountain snow will taper off throughout Wednesday in Southern California, as will gusty northerly winds. Dry and slightly warmer weather is expected to return to the region through the rest of the week after Tuesday's Election Day pounding that turned deadly in the city of Ontario, where a current in a canal swept away six people, killing one.

Three were rescued by firefighters but two others remained missing.

In Orange County, the Republican Party urged members to vote early amid downpours. A marquee race there pitted Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, a star of the party’s progressive wing, against Republican Scott Baugh. Porter took an early double-digit lead but by midnight she and Baugh were divided by less than a percentage point with nearly half the votes still uncounted.

A tornado touched down a few miles (kilometers) outside the town of Galt near Sacramento at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. No major damage was reported.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, meteorologists say scattered showers are expected for Wednesday, along with frost and freezing temperatures in the inland areas through the rest of the week.