Storms To Bring Dramatic Weather Shift To SoCal

Southern California is expected to see a dramatic shift in the weather Sunday as the dry, warm conditions brought by Santa Ana winds this week give way to cooler temperatures and rain the Patch Reports

The National Weather Service warns the next three days are a “literal calm before the storm,” with dry weather and above-average temperatures expected during the day across the region through at least Saturday. Rain could begin to hit Southern California Sunday and possibly continue throughout the entirety of next week.

Weak northeast Santa Ana winds are expected to continue Thursday, with a shift to stronger east-southeast winds Friday. Wind speeds of 25-40 mph are expected, mostly in the mountains and foothills, with gusts of up to 50 mph, according to the NWS.

Temperatures will continue to warm into the weekend, hitting the 70 to 80-degree range by Sunday, with the warmest temperatures further inland. Overall, temperatures will be between 6 and 15 degrees above normal across SoCal, the NWS said.

“A storm system moving into the eastern Pacific may bring rain to the region as early as late this weekend with off-and-on rain much of next week,” the weather service said.

Thanks to the storm’s slow eastward progression, showers are likely to be scattered on Sunday with a chance of rain as far south as Orange County and as far east as San Bernardino County later in the day, according to the National Weather Service.

Light, intermittent showers are possible across LA, the Inland Empire, Orange County and San Diego Monday through Wednesday. Though forecasters say they have low confidence in the exact timing and amounts at this point, the most likely scenario is a half-inch to three inches of rain, according to the weather service.