Storm expected to dump heavy rain on Southern California starting Monday night

A almighty tempest brewing to the northwest is expected to get successful Southern California Monday evening, Dec. 13, with dense rain, beardown winds, snowfall and the anticipation of mudslides astatine sites of caller wildfires.

Monday volition commencement retired chilly, but sunny. Lows could dip to 33 degrees successful Ramona, 34 degrees adjacent March Air Reserve Base, 34 degrees successful Chino, and 44 degrees successful Fullerton successful the morning. Temperatures are expected to ascent into the 60s later.

But stormy upwind apt volition scope Santa Barbara by 7 p.m. that evening, and past Los Angeles County by aboriginal Tuesday. Forecasters accidental the strategy volition thrust gusts of up to 60 mph and dump rainfall and snowfall connected the portion arsenic it rapidly moves southbound and east.

People surviving successful valleys oregon on the seashore should expect betwixt 1 to 3 inches of rainfall during the people of the storm. Foothill areas could person betwixt 3 to six inches of rain. That volition effect successful bedewed roads and the anticipation of flooding on low-lying streets, highways and upland roads, NWS Meteorologist Phil Gonsalves Gonsalves said.

Sliding debris could go a hazard for radical traveling adjacent the pain scars near by the Bobcat and Ranch 2 fires past twelvemonth successful the San Gabriel Valley, oregon the Palisades fire that scorched much than 1,300 acres successful the Santa Monica Mountains successful May, meteorologists said. Mudslides and falling boulders volition apt effect successful roadworthy closures on upland roads successful the San Bernardino Mountains arsenic well, Gonsalves said.

We're inactive on-track for a almighty tempest precocious Monday and Tuesday. Winds are looking stronger, truthful we've accrued those arsenic good arsenic snowfall totals successful the mountains. #BePrepared #CAwx #LAweather pic.twitter.com/57RrfV92f6

— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) December 11, 2021

The likelihood of flash floods led San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials to contented a bulletin to residents adjacent areas that had been threatened past twelvemonth by the Apple occurrence adjacent Oak Glen and El Dorado occurrence adjacent Yucaipa. They were told they whitethorn beryllium forced to evacuate arsenic the tempest develops, and should beryllium prepared to permission their homes astatine a moment’s notice.

Meteorologists foretell 12 to 36 inches of caller pulverization volition travel down astatine elevations supra 7,000 feet opening Monday afternoon. Lighter snowfall astatine heights arsenic debased arsenic 4,500 feet whitethorn beryllium imaginable by Tuesday afternoon.

“Above the snowfall line, it’s going to beryllium falling sideways and visibility volition beryllium horrible,” Gonsalves said. “And beneath the snowfall line, it’s going to beryllium precise wet. If you don’t person to beryllium extracurricular during this storm, you shouldn’t be.”

Potentially damaging winds volition travel bouts of mean to dense precipitation. A precocious upwind ticker volition beryllium successful effect crossed Los Angeles County Monday evening and overnight into Tuesday. People successful wind-prone areas should look retired for falling histrion limbs and different blown debris.

The tempest should highest connected Tuesday earlier leaving Southern California that evening. Sunny skies instrumentality connected Wednesday, but temperatures whitethorn stay chill done the remainder of the week. Even much rainfall whitethorn beryllium imaginable either precocious Thursday oregon Friday, according to aboriginal forecasts.

Despite the imaginable hazards they pose, wintertime storms bring much-needed precipitation to water-starved Southern California, Gonsalves said. The authorities has been suffering done a multi-year drought that is improbable to beryllium solved by immoderate azygous bout of rain.

“If we request a bathtub afloat of h2o to remedy the drought, this is similar our archetypal glass,” Gonsalves said.

Projected Monday precocious temperatures, according to the NWS:

Downtown Los Angeles: 53°

Fullerton: 53°

Long Beach: 61°

Mission Viejo: 53°

Redlands: 57°

Riverside: 50°

San Bernardino: 58°

Torrance: 59°

Van Nuys: 57°

Whittier: 56°