After a wet weekend that saw sometimes heavy downpours, more rain fell in parts on the Southland Monday, with showers possibly extending into Tuesday before yet another bout of unsettled weather arrives later in the week.
The National Weather Service issued several flood advisories Monday afternoon as some storm cells dropped rain at a rapid pace in parts of the area. Many areas, however, saw only light rain, but enough to dampen streets heading into the afternoon commute.
Forecasters said the rain would continue to fall into late Monday night, “with decreasing showers continuing into Tuesday.”
“Behind the front (Monday night) and Tuesday, an unstable and showery pattern will prevail as the upper low drops southward,” according to the NWS. “By Tuesday evening, rainfall totals with this system are expected to range from 0.50-1.00 inches for coastal/valley areas with 1-2 inches for the foothills and mountains.
“Rainfall rates through Tuesday are expected to generally be under 0.50 inches per hour and will generate nuisance flooding across the area.”
But forecasters warned that isolated pockets could see rain rates of about an inch per hour, which could trigger more serious flooding and debris flows. A dusting of snow was also possible along the Grapevine stretch of Interstate 5 on Tuesday morning.
“Along with the rain and snow, thunderstorms will be a risk … through Tuesday. As the upper low drops southward today, a cold and unstable air mass will bring a threat of thunderstorms to all areas. On Tuesday, the threat of thunderstorms looks to be confined to LA county as well as interior sections of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.”
The storm system was expected to be out of the area by late Tuesday, with the area getting a respite from the rain on Wednesday. But another storm system was expected to arrive in the Los Angeles area by Thursday afternoon.
Forecasters said that system could drop another quarter- to three-quarters of an inch of rain.