It’s time to dust off your umbrella.
A Pacific storm system is poised to bring rain to much of California starting Thursday evening and into the weekend, with a second storm forecast to arrive Sunday to keep the region cool and moist into next week.
The brunt of the rainfall from the first storm is anticipated to wallop Northern California and provide scatter showers over the southern region, meteorologists say.
“It won’t be as dramatic of a winter storm, but it will nonetheless add to the already above-average seasonal rain totals in Southern California,” said climate scientist Daniel Swain during a live discussion on YouTube.
While you’re at it, unpack your long-sleeve sweaters as well, as forecasters predict a significant cooling trend beginning Thursday.
The high temperatures will range between the mid to upper 70s for coastal communities and the downtown Los Angeles area — in contrast to temperatures in the mid to low 80s over the last week. It’ll feel warm during the day; however, temperatures are anticipated to drop about 10 degrees more in the evening and remain in the mid to high 60s throughout the rest of the week starting Friday.
The cooler temperatures are coming from a long-anticipated offshore pattern that is finally swinging onshore, forecasters with the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office said.
Additionally, expect gusty southwest to northwest winds throughout the day Friday, with sustained wind speeds around 20 mph with possible gusts of 30 to 35 mph across the inland region of Los Angeles County.
“The rain is generally going to be on the lighter side, but we can’t rule out some heavier rain at times,” said Mike Wofford, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office.
Rain is anticipated to start falling after 10 p.m. on Thursday for Santa Barbara County and sometime after midnight for Los Angeles County.
Forecasters say more widespread rainfall is anticipated to begin late Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday morning.
Between the Friday and Saturday showers, forecasters say rainfall totals can top out between a quarter-inch to an inch.
Despite the lower amount of anticipated rainfall, meteorologists won’t rule out the possibility of minor flood advisories being issued over the weekend, Wofford said.
Another storm system is anticipated to hit the region on Sunday night and linger into Tuesday.
The strength of the arriving storm could be influenced by warmer ocean waters. Ocean conditions are the warmest on record for any cool season, which typically occurs between Nov. 1 and April 30, along the California coast, Swain said.
“Instead of weakening as they approach the immediate shoreline, there’s actually a chance that things, any thunderstorms that are out there, might briefly strengthen a little bit right before moving onshore,” he said. “So that makes me bullish about the thunderstorm and down-pouring potential with these [storm] systems and subsequent ones.”
A high surf advisory will go into effect Friday through Tuesday because of two large swells, the first to arrive Friday into Saturday and the second to arrive Monday, said Bryan Lewis, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office.
“We should see … surf heights in some of those west-facing beaches in that eight-to-12-foot range, some areas may be a little bit lower,” Lewis said. “It just kind of really depends on that orientation of that coastline there.”
Forecasters caution swimmers to be on alert for dangerous rip currents and only swim near a lifeguard, stay off rock jetties and heed the advice of local officials.
