Latest Storm Is in No Hurry to Leave
After a burst of sunny, warm weather last week, sections of Orange County had to bundle up and dig out their umbrellas Sunday as temperatures plummeted and showers dampened the area--and a dramatic waterspout appeared off the coast.
The National Weather Service announced a special marine warning Sunday for waters off Orange County after spotting the dark gray waterspout off Newport Beach. The spout dissipated and there was no damage, said Sgt. Jim Thomas of the Harbor Patrol division of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Thomas said the closest the spout came to shore was two miles.
Two storms, the first arriving Friday and the second Sunday, cast a pall over the region with rain starting Sunday afternoon. The heaviest rainfall is expected to continue until late today, meteorologists said.
The majority of the showers will occur along coastal areas and in the lower San Fernando Valley, said Ray Tanabe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The foothills in the Burbank and Pasadena area are expected to be particularly hard hit, with 3 to 5 inches of rainfall by the time the storm is over Wednesday.
“We’re not expecting the showers to let up until Wednesday,” Tanabe said.
The county’s mountains may get up to 24 inches of snow in the highest altitudes. There is also a 10% to 20% chance of thunderstorms today, said Alan Shoemaker, a meteorologist at Weather Central, a private forecasting firm.
After the storms clear, temperatures are expected to warm up slowly, with highs in the mid- to high 60s by the weekend, Shoemaker said.
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