A Pacific storm system brought rain and snow to Southern California Tuesday, along with strong winds, but the foul weather is expected to end Wednesday.
Light showers began developing across San Luis Obispo County late Monday evening, then spread southeast across the area on a trajectory that brought them into the Los Angeles basin this afternoon.
Showers will continue in Los Angeles County this evening, and a slight chance of showers will linger over northern and eastern mountain slopes late tonight into Wednesday morning, when skies are expected to clear, according to the National Weather Service.
“Be prepared for especially slick roadways since this is the first significant rainfall in a while across Southern California,” according to the NWS. “Rainfall with the main frontal band is expected to end across eastern Los Angeles County between 8 and 9 p.m.”
The snow level was expected to drop as evening wears on, reaching about 4,500 feet by late but only snow flurries are anticipated.
Between two and four inches of snow are expected above 5,000 feet, although up to six inches is possible in some spots, forecasters said. Nonetheless, no weather-related difficulties or road closures are expected in the Interstate 5 Corridor, they said.
The storm also brought gusty winds into the area, with the strongest in the San Gabriel Mountains and the Antelope Valley. Forecasters said gusts over 60 mph were possible in the Antelope Valley foothills.
Total rainfall amounts resulting from this late-season weather system out of the Gulf of Alaska are expected to be between a quarter-inch and a half- inch in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, although up to one inch of rain may fall in the mountains and foothills, and between a quarter-inch and a third of an inch of rain per hour could come down when the rainfall reaches a peak, according to the NWS.
The threat of mud and debris flows over slopes denuded by wildfire “is low,” although it should be monitored, forecasters said.
In Glendora, where residents near the Colby Fire burn area are constantly on the lookout for rain that could generate mudslides, city officials raised the alert level even though no problems are anticipated. The Yellow alert level calls for residents to remove vehicles and other objects from roadways to ensure emergency crews can access the hillsides and to protect them from any potential mud and debris flows.
Sunny skies will return to the Los Angeles area Wednesday, and temperatures will be a few degrees higher — two or three in several communities.
—City News Service