LOS ANGELES — Forecasters are tracking what may be the first impactful storms of the season in Southern California, expecting widespread rainfall, gusty winds, and snow at the higher elevations of the mountains.
According to the National Weather Service, one or two storms could begin to materialize around the middle of next week with a likelihood of moderate to heavy rainfall.
“We’re in for a significant pattern change next week as a Pacific low impacts the West Coast,” NWS San Diego said Thursday. “There is the potential for moderate to locally heavy rainfall from this system for the Wednesday through Friday time period next week. It’s quite far out at this time, and details on the timing and intensity will likely change, but it certainly looks like an interesting weather week coming up.”
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Forecasters in Los Angeles said Thursday that there was “unusually high confidence” that a powerful storm system fueled by an atmospheric river would lend to a very wet stretch that could dump up to 2 to 5 inches of rain over Southern California between Wednesday and Friday. In one scenario, the greater L.A. area could see up to six inches of rain.
While there is still plenty of time for the forecast to evolve, early models agree that rain is on the horizon, and new outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center show very high odds for above-average precipitation impacting a wide swath of the Golden State next week.
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The upcoming system could be a preview of things to come in the months ahead, with a strengthing El Niño favored to last until the spring, which often brings wetter weather to the Golden State with above-average snowfall.
More details on the timing and intensity of next week’s storms will be shared in the coming days.
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