Cold weather arrives in Southern California, bringing snow in the mountains

Chilly climate moved into Southern California on Sunday, bringing rain, cloudy skies and snowfall within the mountains.

The climate that swept in from the north was forecast to drop 6 to 10 inches of snow at elevations above 5,000 toes within the San Gabriel Mountains, and as a lot as a foot of snow at excessive elevations within the mountains in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.

The Nationwide Climate Service mentioned the chilly climate would convey snow at elevations as little as 2,500 toes, and will go away as much as 2 inches on mountain passes together with the Grapevine on Interstate 5. Forecasters warned the snow might make for slippery driving on roads within the mountains.

The low-pressure system got here down from Canada over land, mentioned David Candy, meteorologist with the Nationwide Climate Service in Oxnard.

“It’s bought lots of chilly air with it. And it’s going to drop our snow ranges down fairly low,” Candy mentioned.

“Slippery roads are potential. Snow is predicted to have an effect on the Grapevine. So there may very well be some hazardous street circumstances,” Candy mentioned. “Folks above 2,500 to three,000 toes needs to be ready for the potential for winter street circumstances.”

Within the Los Angeles space, mild rain was anticipated, with highs within the mid-50s and in a single day lows within the low 40s.

The Nationwide Climate Service issued a winter storm warning for mountain areas in San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties, forecasting heavy snow and wind gusts of 30 mph to 60 mph in some areas.

In Los Angeles County’s mountains, 2 to five inches of snow was forecast between 3,000 toes and 4,500 toes, with 4 to eight inches of snow at increased elevations.

Components of the excessive desert are additionally anticipated to get snow — as a lot as 3 inches within the foothills of the Antelope Valley, and someplace between a hint of snow and an inch on the valley flooring round Palmdale.

“Some people that aren’t used to snow will in all probability have a chance to see a bit little bit of snow,” Candy mentioned.

Elsewhere within the state, the climate introduced showers within the Central Valley and contemporary snow within the Sierra Nevada. After 10 days with out snow, about 0.8 inch of snow fell Sunday morning on the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory at Donner Move, and extra was coming down.

The contemporary snowfall introduced a light-weight addition to the Sierra snowpack after storms within the first half of January gave California its deepest snow in years. The snow water equal of the Sierra Nevada snowpack now measures 214% of common for this time of 12 months, bringing a big increase to California’s water provides after three years of extreme drought.

The snowfall on this newest climate system is “not overly impactful in comparison with what we’ve seen for the primary half of January,” mentioned Katrina Hand, a meteorologist with the Nationwide Climate Service in Sacramento. She mentioned 3 to eight inches of snow was anticipated on mountain passes, with bigger quantities at increased elevations.

In components of the Sierra Nevada, drivers have been suggested to make use of chains.

“If folks do have mountain journey plans, count on some journey delays and slick roads,” Hand mentioned.

The storm was anticipated to float southward off the coast of Southern California by Monday night time, leaving the snow-covered mountains below clear skies by Tuesday.