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A series of winter storms will bring rain to the Los Angeles area and bring snow to the mountains this week, forecasters say, raising concerns about debris flows in areas of recent burns.
The heaviest precipitation was expected from Tuesday evening through Thursday. This system will connect to an atmospheric river, a high-moisture air stream that creates a kind of water pipeline, and dump 2-3 inches of rain over much of LA County, said Kathy Hoxsie. , meteorologist at the National. Weather service at Oxnard.
A weaker wave of rain and snow was also expected to hit Monday morning.
It comes after the first in a series of storms doused up to half an inch of rain over the area from Saturday to Sunday.
Snowfall ranged from a dusting along the Grapevine up to 2 inches at higher elevations. In Malibu, residents shared images of impromptu sledding sessions on social media, a rarity for the coastal area. But what looked like snow was actually hail of small granules, Hoxsie said.
That didn’t stop some drivers from stopping to frolic in the foreign whiteness.
California Highway Patrol Officer Stephan Brandt said his department received a report shortly after 5 p.m. on Saturday that several drivers were pulling over and parking near the Malibu Canyon tunnel.
“They were playing in the snow,” said Brandt, who said such activities were “dangerous” and reckless.
The next storm is expected to move over the central coast on Sunday evening and reach the Los Angeles area on Monday morning, Hoxsie said.
“It will be a little more humid and a little cooler,” she said.
Snow levels were expected to drop as low as 1,500 feet, with 1 to 3 inches in the foothills of the Antelope Valley and possible dusting in the Santa Clarita Valley. Forecasters were calling for 2-4 inches of snow along the mountain passes and up to 8 inches at higher elevations.
Strong winds were expected along the coast in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with gusts of 40 to 50 mph, and in the Antelope Valley, with gusts of up to 60 mph.
Forecasters were calling for big waves, with waves 8 to 12 feet on the west-facing beaches on Monday and Tuesday. “So no one should be in the water,” Hoxsie said.
During the third storm, which is expected to be even colder and wetter, precipitation rates could be high at times, increasing the possibility of debris flows in recent burn areas, as well as mud and landslides on mountain roads. Significant snowfall accumulation is possible, mainly above 5,000 feet.
A fourth storm system is possible from Saturday.
The model change came after a record hot summer, the worst fire season in California history, and a dry fall and early winter as southern California was swept by the winds. of Santa Ana.
Although the Pacific Northwest and northern Intermountain West have benefited from heavy rainfall from a series of northern Pacific storms, the central and southern parts of the West are roughly drought-prone. as serious as possible.
This series of precipitation is still unlikely to be enough to bring the area back to normal levels for the season, Hoxsie said.
“We started out so dry that it’s not enough,” she says. “If it stops after these storms, we’ll probably still be in trouble.”
Times writer Paul Duginski contributed to this report.
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