Trickle expected to turn into a weekend downpour

Although rains slowed throughout the Southland on Friday, a new storm is expected to arrive tonight, kicking up wind and surf and dropping more than an inch of rain in places.

Downtown Los Angeles has received 12.82 inches of rain since July 1, the start of the National Weather Service’s rain year. That’s about 3 inches above average for this time of year, well on the way to the annual average of 15.14 inches.

“That’s not to say that we’ll necessarily end up above normal -- it just means so far, we’re doing well,” said Jamie Meier, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The storm headed this way from the central Pacific is expected to drop up to 1.5 inches of rain in Los Angeles County this weekend, Meier said, and some snow above 7,000 feet, and bring gusts of 20 to 30 mph on the coast, stronger in the mountains.

Forecasters say highs will be in the high 50s and low 60s across the region.

On Sunday, waves are expected to reach up to 16 feet at Orange County beaches and 10 feet along the shores of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. The weather service issued a high surf advisory for Ventura and L.A. counties to run from 3 p.m. Sunday until Tuesday morning because of potential rip currents, Meier said.

“It could be one of those epic surfs,” said Mike Lavis, a meteorologist with the weather service in San Diego. “When these swells bring strong winds across the Pacific, that’s when you see some of the strongest surf.”

Lavis said his office may issue a high surf advisory during the weekend, as well as flash-flood warnings, if forecasts indicate intense rain, which could lead to mud and rock slides in areas that burned during the October wildfires.

“There was rain Wednesday, now this one -- there’s a cumulative effect, and it may not take much” to trigger floods, he said.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com