LOS ANGELES (CNS) - On the heels of a week that brought the Southland dry conditions and Santa Ana winds, cold and wet weather will be moving into the region starting today, bringing a slight chance of rain and mountain snow.
National Weather Service forecasters said an upper-level low-pressure system will make its way into the Southland Friday, giving the region “cool and unsettled weather'' through the weekend. It's the first of at least three storm system bearing down on the region.
“The first system will bring light showers through Sunday, while the Sunday night through early Tuesday storm system will bring very low snow levels with light to moderate precipitation,'' according to the NWS. “The Wednesday night through Friday storm will bring the most significant precipitation to the forecast area with plenty of snow in the mountains expected. High temperatures will remain cooler than normal through next week.''
The initial front moving through the region is not expected to bring much moisture, with rainfall not expected to top a tenth of an inch in most areas of Los Angeles County. About an inch of snow could fall in mountain areas above 5,500 feet.
But conditions could get wetter late Friday night through Saturday night, lowering the snow level to 3,500 feet, along with a slight chance of some thunderstorms in mountain areas. Icy conditions would impact the Grapevine area, where as much as an inch of snow could potentially fall by Saturday afternoon, forecaster said.
The rest of the region could get up to one-third of an inch, or even more in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Temperatures are expected to be mostly in the upper 50s and low 60s across most of the area Friday, dropping even lower tomorrow, with highs in the 50s anticipated.
The weather will get even colder by Sunday night, when another system drops snow levels to 2,500 feet by Monday, and the region possibly getting another half inch of rain.
The third and strongest system is expected to arrive by mid-week, lasting through next Friday. Although snow levels will be much higher, the system is expected to be much wetter overall, “and rainfall rates could approach critical thresholds for mud and debris flows at times,'' according to the NWS.
“Multiple inches of rain are possible by the end of the week in some areas, especially in the foothills and mountains,'' forecasters said.
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