After only a brief delay Sunday, new winter storms are expected to bring even more precipitation to Southern California through Wednesday, though forecasters say it won’t be a repeat of last week’s epic storms, which dumped record-breaking rainfall and historic snow. brought to the South.
“There’s no comparison to this storm versus last week,” said David Gomberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. “It’s a more typical winter storm for us, in terms of rain and snow amounts.”
The coasts and valleys can expect about an inch of rain through Wednesday, while the foothills can see up to 2 inches, the forecasts show.
Still, Gomberg said, snowfall in the mountains will likely be the “most impactful part of the storm,” especially as crews continue to work to respond to problems and blocked roads across the Southern California mountains from the last storm. Snowfall reached more than 50 inches on many peaks as of early Sunday, with the Mountain High ski resort in Wrightwood recording more than 90 inches from the last storm, according to the National Weather Service’s final accumulation count.
This storm can bring up to 2 feet of snow at the highest elevations, Gomberg said, noting that a winter weather advisory is already in effect for most of the region’s mountains. It will be upgraded to a winter storm watch from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday evening, with heavier snow, high winds and difficult travel expected.
Precipitation forecasts through Wednesday aren’t necessarily eye-watering, but Gomberg warned that the extra precipitation could exacerbate fragile conditions created during the latest storm, raising concerns of even more mud or rock slides. A few homes in La Cañada Flintridge suffered damage this weekby washed-up debris.
“If this rain was alone, it wouldn’t be such a big problem, but since everything is already loose and saturated, it becomes a bigger problem,” Gomberg said.
Last week’s rainfall totals were extremely high, breaking new records in some places, the National Weather Service.
More than 10 inches of rain fell in multiple areas in just a few days, including Woodland Hills and Stunt Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains, while Pasadena recorded more than 8 inches and downtown LA and Culver City recorded around 2 inches.
Los Angeles International Airport and Burbank Airport both broke records for rainfall on Friday, Gomberg said. In a 24-hour period, LAX received 2.04 inches of rain, easily surpassing the previous February 24 record of three-quarters of an inch set in 2000. At the Burbank airport, 4.61 inches fell, breaking the previous record of 3.87 inches set in 1998. .
The wind will also “not be as strong as the previous event,” but still a concern, Gomberg said with a wind advisory in effect through Monday night for the Antelope Valley. Winds in the mountains can see gusts of up to 70 mph at some points, advisories said.