Winter Storm Moves Into the Southland

The first in a series of powerful winter storms is expected to pummel Southern California with thunder, rain and cold, gusty winds this morning as the storm track from the Gulf of Alaska bends south into Southern California.

Forecasters said that by late afternoon Orange County should get from half an inch to 1 1/2 inches of rain, accompanied by winds.

More rain is expected Sunday and Monday with the arrival of a second wintry weather system heading south along the storm track. Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said a third storm could reach the area by the middle of next week.

Burback said the Pacific storm track, which tends to cut across the northern and middle portions of the state at this time of year, is being bent farther south than usual by a branch of the jet stream, the high-altitude, high-speed winds that flow from west to east in the Northern Hemisphere.

Although this southern bend in the storm track apparently will mean more rain for Southern California over the next week or so, its effect on the state’s six-year drought remains uncertain.

Coastal communities in Northern and Central California got an inch of rain or more from the first storm as it headed south Thursday, but the storm stayed farther offshore than expected, adding little to the High Sierra snowpack, California’s principal source of water.

However, forecasters said they think the storm will head inland across a broad front early this morning, with up to a foot of new snow piling up in the Sierra as rain begins falling across Southern California. Burback said the second and third storms could add substantially to the Sierra snowpack.

Officials in Sacramento announced Tuesday that they had only enough water to deliver about 10% of the amounts requested for next year by the Metropolitan Water District and 28 other agencies served by the State Water Project, which is fed by runoff from the Sierra.

The MWD, which provides a major share of the water used in Southern California, said it had anticipated the cutbacks and expects to get through the coming year without mandatory rationing. The MWD has other resources to draw upon, and voluntary conservation efforts have reduced the demand for water.

Forecasters said the first storm should begin moving east out of the Los Angeles area sometime this afternoon, with partly cloudy skies expected tonight and Saturday.

Temperatures will remain chilly, Burback said, with coastal valley and Orange County highs in the 50s and 60s after overnight lows in the upper 30s and lower 40s.

Rain should begin again Sunday, continuing into Monday, Burback said. He said that although skies should clear on Tuesday, the third storm system could bring rain again by the middle of the week.

In Orange County on Thursday, the warmest spot was Santa Ana, which reached a high of 64 degrees, well below the normal high of 71 degrees for the date. The coldest spot was Anaheim, which dipped to 49 degrees.

As of nightfall Thursday--before the first sprinkles from the approaching storm were recorded--the season’s rainfall total at the Civic Center was only .78 of an inch, compared to a normal season’s total for the date of 2.63 inches

Times staff writer Greg Hernandez contributed to this story.