Rain returns to Orange County this weekend

Inland portions of Southern California will experience the brunt of a storm this weekend, but valleys and coasts in Orange County should still receive around an inch of rain.

Showers beginning Saturday should build into steady, at times heavy rainfall on Sunday before tapering off Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Orange County is expected to see more precipitation than the amount it received last week, but not as much as what came down from a storm powered by an atmospheric river at the beginning of November.

No mudslide warnings were scheduled for Orange County, but traffic and other issues related to flooding in low-lying and urban areas may still occur over the weekend, NWS meteorologist Stefanie Sullivan said. She also advised keeping an eye out for falling trees, branches and wind-blown debris.

“It doesn’t take much to uproot a tree with roots that might be too shallow,” Sullivan said. “And gusts are always knocking down palm fronds.”

The NWS issued a high-wind advisory effective Sunday between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Gusts may reach speeds of 30 to 35 mph during that period, Sullivan said.

A cool down will accompany cloudy, wet and breezy conditions early next week. Saturday highs of 60 degrees in Laguna Beach, 61 degrees in Huntington Beach, 62 degrees in Newport Beach and 63 degrees in Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley were expected to drop to the mid-50s by Monday.

At inland mountain ranges in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, falling temperatures will help bring the snow level to as low as 3,500 feet above sea level by Sunday evening, according to forecasts. Up to 2 inches of snow may hit the ground at that height, and as much as 2 feet of powder may cake elevations above 7,500 feet.

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