It’s time to grab those jackets and pull out the umbrellas because cooler temperatures and a chance of rain is on tap for Southern California by the middle of this week, forecasters say.
A low-pressure system moving in from the north is predicted to bring widespread rain, with a slight chance of thunderstorms that could result in gusty, erratic winds and lightning, said Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
There is still “a little bit of uncertainty” about precisely when the storm will arrive, but it likely will be some time Wednesday, Lewis said.
The precipitation is expected come as steady showers, not heavy, problematic downpours, he said.
“We should see mostly beneficial rain, a half-inch to an inch in most places, a little higher in foothills and mountains,” Lewis said. “Of course, it’s L.A., so any sort of rain could cause some sort of flooding in some areas, but it doesn’t look like anything too significant.”
In Orange County and San Bernardino counties, 1 to 1.5 inches is predicted.
The precipitation is expected to taper off Thursday evening, according to the weather service.
Maximum temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be cloudy and cool, with highs topping out in the mid-60s and lower 70s, according to the weather service. Those temperatures are slightly below normal for this time of year, when average highs are about 78 degrees in downtown Los Angeles.
The National Weather Service office in San Diego — which monitors conditions in Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — said Thursday will be the coolest day of the week, with high temperatures as much as 15 to 20 degrees below average in mountain communities, where temperatures will be in the 40s and 50s.
The cool, wet weather comes after days of punishing Santa Ana winds that fueled a spate of wildfires across Southern California and a persistent heat wave that shattered October records across Southern California and ushered in an unprecedented streak of 100-degree days.
After this week’s storm, temperatures are expected to climb back into the upper 70s and low 80s through the weekend.
There also is a chance for light Santa Ana winds — as is common with such systems — “but nothing like we saw last week,” Lewis said, describing the past few days’ gusts as: “Ugh. Not fun.”
The most destructive of the past week’s conflagrations, the 570-acre Norte fire that started in San Clemente, was 75% contained as of Monday morning, said Capt. Sean Doran, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.
The blaze, which sparked around 11:30 a.m. Friday, damaged or destroyed at least seven structures and forced about 16,000 people to evacuate as 40-mph gusts fanned the flames. By Sunday, all evacuation orders were lifted.
On Monday, fire crews — anticipating a change in wind patterns with the upcoming storm — were working to strengthen containment lines and using drones and thermal imaging cameras to help detect hot spots, including below ground, Doran said.
While the rainstorm was good news in terms of bringing down temperatures and increasing the humidity to help the fire fight, it could lead to runoff and mudflow in the burn areas, he said.
In California, he said, “that’s the cycle, right?”
The 146-acre Bryson fire, which started in Malibu near Encinal Canyon Road on Thursday afternoon, was 83% contained as of Monday, according to the California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection. All evacuation orders and warnings were lifted over the weekend.
The 3,260-acre Henderson fire in San Diego County, near Camp Pendleton, was 95% contained.