Weekend cold snap in store for Southland, forecasters say
Southern Californians can probably go straight from sunglasses to ski goggles this weekend, as the nastiest chill in a while is expected to blast through the unusually mild autumn weather.
The storm will probably bring rain and snow at the beginning of next week, with snow possibly covering the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains down to 2,000 feet in elevation, according to the National Weather Service.
“This is going to be our first whopper snowstorm of the season,” said William Patzert, a climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge. “You get one of these every five to 10 years.”
This storm marks the end of a strangely cool summer and an unusually warm autumn. Temperatures have been running about four degrees above normal in the last three months because of dry, warm Santa Ana conditions from the Southwest, Patzert said. Temperatures could drop 20 degrees in a few days, he said.
In Woodland Hills, for example, high temperatures are expected to drop from a toasty 81 degrees Thursday afternoon to 57 degrees by Sunday.
The nastiest part of the storm -- which is making its way down from the Arctic -- will pummel the region Sunday through Wednesday, said Bill Hoffer, a spokesman with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Daytime high temperatures could be 15 degrees below normal, and nighttime lows could dip into the 30s in the Antelope Valley, the weather service said.
Most Southland residents will see some showers, Hoffer said.
“When a system like this comes down, everybody’s going to get a little something,” he said. “The whole atmosphere is saturated.”
The region really needs this storm, Patzert said, because it has been enduring one of the driest spells in the last half century of Los Angeles history, Patzert said.
From March to November, just 0.2 inches of rain fell on the Los Angeles area, he said.
Unfortunately, he added, this storm does not spell a wet winter.
“Definitely enjoy this one,” he said.
Farmers will be grateful for the rain, especially since temperatures are not expected to drop below freezing and damage the produce, said Scott Deardorff, president of the Ventura County Farm Bureau’s board of directors.
“This time of year, when we get rain, it usually soaks in pretty well,” said Deardorff, who grows lettuce and strawberries on his farm.
Ski resort operators were also giddy about the prospects of precipitation. Big Bear is expecting 1 to 2 feet of snow and temperatures low enough to make more.
The forecast “is almost too good to be true,” said Chris Riddle, director of marketing for Big Bear Mountain Resorts.
But the rain poses a danger for residents living in areas burned in the recent wildfires. Yorba Linda officials posted warning signs Thursday about flash floods and debris flows in the areas burned by last month’s Freeway Complex fire. They asked residents to place sandbags around their homes to channel away the flows coming down the slopes.
“Mud and debris flows may occur without warning or evacuation notices,” said Mark Stowell, the city’s public works director. “We’ll do our best to evacuate, but something could trigger one without warning. People need to be ready.”
Sandbags are available for free at many local parks listed on the Yorba Linda city website. Residents of Los Angeles can find a list of locations at the Fire Department’s blog.
Homeless shelter managers are worried about the cold, trying to prepare for extra people who may no longer be able to sleep outside or in their cars.
The Rev. Andy Bales, chief executive of the Union Rescue Mission, is planning for an additional 300 people who will seek shelter from the weather.
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paloma.esquivel@latimes.com
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