Los Angeles to Experience Rain This Week Amid California Drought
Starting this week, the city of Los Angeles has a great possibility to experience a series of El Niño-related rainstorms and snowfall which could last all throughout the week.
As reported by The Los Angeles Times, there is a 30 percent chance of rain between 10 p.m. Sunday and 4 a.m. Monday, and a 70 percent chance Monday morning, according to Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, with a good chance of up to half-inch of rain.
Moreover, there is a also the great possibility that Los Angeles will experience the strongest storm this Tuesday, Munroe Said.
It will bring about one or two inches of rain in foothill areas, with up to four inches at higher elevations. Mountain areas above 6,000 feet could experience up to 2 feet of snow.
According to The Daily News, that much rain in a short period could also bring flooding and debris flows from recently burnt areas. And as noted, residents in these areas are advised to monitor weather reports and consider preparing sand bags.
In a report by KPCC, John Dumas, a Science and Operations Officer from the NWS said, "We're very concerned with a lot of the areas where there has been fire. When the rain comes down on that, it could start triggering the mud and the rocks and everything else to start coming down."
Dumas also said, "The overall pattern that is bringing us these storms is finally looking like what we would expect the El Nino pattern to look like that it so far hasn't this summer."
In addition, coastal areas can expect high surf throughout much of next week, along with the possibility of flooding, especially during the middle of the week when a large swell arrives, the NWS said. Furthermore, Western-facing beaches will be particularly prone to flooding on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A spokesperson from the Long Beach Fire Department said that although there are no imminent flood warnings, city agencies are monitoring for a new new weather developments.
The first rain in the city of Los Angeles was expected to fall yesterday during afternoon or evening, but the NWS warned another storm will hit the city Wednesday, with the rainfall decreasing on Thursday.
On the other hand, resorts in the Sierra and San Gabriel mountains are expecting several feet of snow. In fact, Mammoth Resorts already exceeded their last season's attendance record, resort spokeswoman Lauren Burke said.
"We're averaging about 15,000 people on the hill every day, which is really solid holiday visitation. Some days we've seen even a little more than that and any time it snows we've seen that number pick up," she added.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com