Weather Forecasters See a Stormy Weekend Ahead

The sunny days and unusually high temperatures of this week will give way to a stormy, wet weekend, weather forecasters say.

The outlook is for a 20% chance of light showers late Friday, increasing to a 60% chance on Saturday, National Weather Service spokeswoman Pat Rowe said.

The rain is coming with a “jet stream going west to east across the Pacific,” said meteorologist Dan Bowman of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “It’s directed straight at California, kind of like a loaded pistol.”

Bowman said he foresees at least two chances for rain over the next three days, with the first storm moving through Friday night.

“(With) the first one I expect scattered showers that could start as early as Friday afternoon and continue into Saturday morning,” he said, adding this storm could also “drop a foot of snow in the mountains of Northern California.”

The next storm will arrive on Sunday, Bowman said, giving Southern California “an even better chance of rain” along with “quite a bit of snow” for the mountains north of Los Angeles and in Central California.

Temperatures reached 80 at the Civic Center on Thursday, eight degrees short of the record, which was 88 degrees in 1975. The normal temperature for this date, according to the National Weather Service, is 66.

Long Beach had a high temperature of 75, Santa Monica 71, Burbank 78, and Riverside 74.

The coming rains could add another inch to the season’s total, which is 5.60 inches. The normal rainfall for the season is 5.95 inches.

After the weekend, however, and in time to go back to work, the National Weather Service forecasts clearing on Monday and fair weather Tuesday.