Rain Expected to Hit Southland Sunday Morning

Rain should begin falling in the Southland on Sunday morning as a large Pacific storm starts moving over California.

Although the main body of the storm probably will remain to the north, Los Angeles could get a quarter inch to an inch of precipitation, said Guy Pearson, a meteorologist at WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“Showers should fall in the city off and on throughout the day and possibly into Monday,” Pearson said. “If they taper off Sunday, Los Angeles might get only a quarter of an inch of rain. If they last into Monday, Los Angeles could get an inch.”

The National Weather Service said the timing and duration of the storm are still uncertain, with different computer models providing different forecasts.

The storm system’s cold front is “impressive looking,” but a “pesky” high-pressure system blocking the front’s movement toward California may take some time to erode, the Weather Service said Friday afternoon.

“We’re relatively confident that rain will develop along the Central Coast by Saturday night, but what happens next depends on whether that front stalls or not,” the service said. “Our gut feeling is that showers will develop in the Los Angeles Basin sometime Sunday. Expect cool and showery weather Monday, with maybe a thundershower or two.”

Pearson said that although snow levels in the Tehachapi, San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains probably will not dip much below 8,000 feet, there could be heavy snow at lower levels in the Sierra.

The Weather Service said there is a possibility of scattered Southland precipitation through much of next week.