Chance of 'Real Rain' This Weekend

Sunday’s light sprinkles may have been a precursor to heavier showers this coming weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

An upper-level low-pressure system that had been sitting off the Baja peninsula for days sparked a few showers ashore in Southern California yesterday, according to the National Weather Service.

The next chance of “a real rain,” NWS Meteorologist Dave Bruno said, should arrive the latter half of next weekend. Weather models show a southward sagging jet stream poised to bring wet weather out of the North Pacific and southeast across the state, bringing a healthy dose of snow to the Sierra Nevada.

Monday, the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, should be cool and dry, with highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. Tuesday, which could start out foggy, should be about the same.

Though Los Angeles got some early season rain, it has been unusually dry and hot since before Christmas, producing beach days rivaling the midsummer. Since July 1, the NWS weather station at USC has logged 3.76 inches, well behind the seasonal norm of 5.56 inches for this time of year. Last year about this time, Los Angeles had a whopping 12.28 inches -- just shy of annual average rainfall total, about 15 inches.

Along Los Angeles County beaches, look for a building northwest swell, with the surf in the 1-3 foot range, and the water temperature about 60 degrees.

-- City News Service