‘Winter-like storm’ coming to Southern California this week, NWS says

The National Weather Service is advising SoCal residents that a “winter-like storm system” will make its way to the region this week. 

The storm system is set to arrive late Monday and hover over the area until early Wednesday, NWS says.

“Expect widespread light to moderate rain with potential for locally heavy showers and thunderstorms, and gusty winds,” the NWS area forecast discussion synopsis as of early Sunday morning indicates. 

Much of the Los Angeles-area woke up on Sunday to gusty winds, and a Wind Advisory expired at 10 a.m.

That said, according to KTLA meteorologist Kacey Montoya, it will still be a breezy Sunday afternoon and evening for much of SoCal. But Monday will be “a completely different story.”

“There are gusts [forecasted] at 45 to 50 miles per hour…plan on seeing some really windy conditions picking up [on Monday] and lasting through the afternoon and evening,” Kacey said, adding that, for some desert and mountain communities, the winds won’t subside overnight. “It will be partly to mostly cloudy on Monday depending on where you live, [but] as we head into Monday night, here comes the rain. It will be widespread too.”

“Most of [the rain] is going to happen late Monday night through the early morning hours of Tuesday,” Kacey elaborated. “The bulk of the rain will move through slowly…we’re talking four, five, six, seven, maybe eight hours of constant light to moderate rain moving across the area.”

By Tuesday afternoon, the showers become much more scattered. Rain projections range from a quarter of an inch in the Antelope Valley to three-and-a-half inches for communities in and around the San Gabriel Mountains, according to NWS. Snow-wise, a few inches could accumulate between 6,000 and 7,000 feet; however, there is still a “high amount of uncertainty” with the snow forecast, the Weather Service said.

While the storm system passes through, temperatures will remain cool throughout the region. A period of dry and warmer weather will begin Thursday and likely last through next weekend.