Hope you enjoyed the stint of recent sunshine, because the weather is about to get wet and wild.
Secure your patio furniture, dig out your warm coats and get ready for another shot of rain and snow that will persist through the weekend, with potentially another storm brewing next week.
“Winter is definitely not over,” National Weather Service meteorologist Elizabeth Schenk said. She’s in the office that covers Orange County and the Inland Empire. “We are looking at a pretty highly impactful week, weather-wise.”
Southern California is about to get wind-whipped and soaked with two systems on the horizon this week, though major flooding like that seen during January’s bomb cyclone storms isn’t expected. Much of the nation is expecting wintry weather this week.
The region will see high intensity, southwest winds ramping up late Tuesday and peaking Wednesday that are expected to reach 30 mph at the coast, with gusts up to 40 mph or 50 mph and even stronger in the mountain regions. Riverside County areas could see wind speeds between 75 mph and 85 mph.
“This is going to be a pretty remarkable system for wind,” Schenk said.
“It’s a really strong low-pressure system that’s going to be racing down the West Coast this week,” she explained. “A lot of times, we’ll see those highest wind speeds at the mountains, but this one is so dynamically strong, we’ll see high wind speeds across Southern California.”
Temperatures will be 10 degrees to 20 degrees colder than normal, said Kristan Lund, meteorologist for the weather service’s Los Angeles region office. She said temps mid-week will range between the upper 30s and low 50s.
Snow will reach low levels, even to about 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet above sea level with the first system, Lund said. For reference, the Grapevine pass is at 4,500 feet, where forecasters are expecting a foot or two of snow, Lund said.
Other areas, including the Cajon Pass, San Gorgonio Pass and eastern Inland Empire…
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