A storm system moving across the northern Pacific Ocean will move into southwest California Tuesday night. This system will bring the first notable rainfall event of the season starting as early as Tuesday night. The peak precipitation period is expected to be late Tuesday into early Wednesday. Locally I think the system is gone by Wednesday afternoon.
Locally it just looks like scattered showers with not everyone even seeing rain. Those who do on the Central Coast should see less than .10"
In parts of Southern CA (LA, Ventura and in the San Diego area) thunderstorms are possible and we could see as much as .25-.75" with some concern that thunderstorms could cause some minor mud and debris flow but it is not considered a huge concern for recent burn areas.
Snow levels will be down to around 5500 ft on Wednesday morning with the heavier storm total snow accumulations generally above 6000 ft where between 2 and 6 inches could fall in the mountains of LA County. In the higher elevations in Kern County winter storm warnings are already posted.
So it is a quick hitter, late Tuesday and gone by Wednesday by afternoon. I think the winds later Tuesday will also be 15-30mph at the coast with less wind as you go inland. Most of Wednesday looks partly cloudy and breezy, cool with most highs in the 60s.
Most of the rest of the week highs will be in the 60s with 70s returning for most away from the beaches by the weekend.
Next week looks interesting. Monday there is a shower chance and another showery chance on Wednesday due to frontal passages. We could see a more significant rain system on Friday. Stay tuned.
