Clear skies and warm temperatures that greeted Southland residents Monday morning gave way to clouds and heavy downpours in some Southland areas by afternoon as a low-pressure system ruined what began as a picture-perfect day.
National Weather Service forecasters said the low-pressure system had been parked over Arizona Monday morning moved over Southern California by early afternoon, generating storm cells that moved quickly across the region, bringing rain and even some hail.
Orange County was the first to get hit with the wild weather, as a storm cell developed over the ocean and moved inland, prompting some beach closures due to lightning strikes and dropping heavy rain over areas including Anaheim.
The NWS later tracked a powerful storm cell moving across central Los Angeles County, including downtown. By late afternoon, video posted online showed hail falling in Pasadena.
The unsettled weather is expected to linger over the area into Tuesday, according to the NWS, keeping the chance of sudden storms in the forecast.
Prior to the storm cells generating, much of the Southland was enjoying sunny skies and warming temperatures, with some areas nearing 80 degrees. Some areas stayed sunny through the day, but cloudy conditions began to prevail in others by late afternoon.
Forecasters warned that storms developing in the low-pressure system would include winds of up to 50 mph and the potential for rain and/or hail.
According to the NWS, conditions should calm quickly after sunset “as the atmosphere becomes more stable,” and skies should be mostly clear Monday night, despite some areas of low clouds and fog along the coast.
The low-pressure system should move east by Tuesday night into Wednesday, with mostly sunny skies returning and temperatures warming by Thursday.