An approaching storm is expected to soak Southern California this weekend, bringing nearly 2 inches of rain to Los Angeles over four days—nearly the city’s average monthly allotment.
California has faced an abnormally wet winter as moisture-laden storms and atmospheric rivers dumped a deluge of rain on the state beginning in January. Many California cities have already surpassed their average annual rainfall, including Los Angeles.
The excessive rainfall has resulted from a slew of atmospheric rivers that have battered the state this month. Last year, more than a dozen of them helped alleviate the state’s severe drought situation and replenished many of the state’s reservoirs, but the storms also caused devastating floods and landslides.
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Atmospheric rivers are defined as a “long, narrow region in the atmosphere—like rivers in the sky—that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
More rain is on the way, and the National Weather Service (NWS) office in Los Angeles is expecting the approaching storm to bring 1.87 inches to L.A. from Friday to Monday. The city’s average monthly rainfall is 2.4 inches, and 1.4 inches has already fallen so far this month.
“More wet weather is forecast for next weekend. Here are the early estimates for the storm calling for 1-3 inches of rain with amounts up to 4 inches,” NWS Los Angeles posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday morning with a map of expected rainfall amounts. “Stay tuned as this storm could end up producing significant rain and mountain snow.”
NWS meteorologist Mike Wofford told Newsweek that Los Angeles is well above its average annual rainfall for the water year, which runs from October to September. To date, Los Angeles has received almost 20 inches of rain, 6.65 inches above the average, with six months still to go. San Diego and Riverside also have received more than their annual average rainfall.
There’s also potential for flooding with the incoming storm, although it’s still a little early to predict impacts, Wofford said.
AccuWeather meteorologists expect the weekend storm to be the last significant storm of the late winter/early spring season in Southern California, although more storms are on the horizon for the central and northern parts of the state.
The storm comes on the heels of another storm expected to hit the Golden State—as well as Oregon, Washington and interior Western states like Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and Montana—by the middle of the week. That storm could also bring rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches, although some precipitation might fall as snow in higher elevation areas.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.