Cold Front Expected to Bring Rain, Snow

Another storm from the Gulf of Alaska will bring “a taste of winter” to the Southland today, with variable rainfall throughout the Los Angeles Basin and snow as low as 2,500 feet in the mountains, the National Weather Service said Thursday.

“Due to very cold air aloft, thunderstorms could produce some small hail,” the weather service said. “The cold air mass should help destabilize the atmosphere somewhat, and there could be some waterspouts and cold air funnels.”

Heavy surf atop high tides will pose a threat of flooding tonight and early Saturday in low-lying areas of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, the weather service said.

Light sprinkles that began falling Thursday afternoon in Santa Barbara County began to intensify as the storm system moved eastward into Los Angeles County Thursday night. .

Between 0.25 and 1.25 inches of rain was expected in the Los Angeles Basin by nightfall, with the heaviest amounts along the foothills of the Santa Monica, San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, according to Guy Pearson, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“In some areas, there will be periods of steady rain, probably lasting an hour or more, with showers lasting into the night and possibly into Saturday morning,” Pearson said.

The weather service said temperatures in the Los Angeles Basin should be on the cool side today, with highs in the lower 60s following overnight lows in the upper 40s.

Pearson said the snow level tonight would be near 4,000 feet in most areas, but the weather service said it could drop to 2,500 feet near Gorman, which could tie up traffic on Interstate 5 for early weekend travelers. Pearson said 2 to 5 inches of snow was expected at resort levels.

As the frontal system begins to move out of the Los Angeles area early Saturday, temperatures should get even colder, the weather service said, with minimum readings in the upper 30s forecast for some low-lying areas of the San Gabriel, San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Sunday probably will be partly cloudy, breezy and a little warmer, forecasters said.