Summer officially ended more than a month ago but Southern Californians can expect summer-like weather early this week, followed by the return of cooler fall temperatures and even a rainstorm later in the week.
Temperatures on Monday will be in the 80s and 90s across much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, approaching record highs in some areas of the valleys, according to a National Weather Service area forecast.
Along the coast, temperatures will be in the 60s to 70s early in the week — still around 10 to 20 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be cooler as a rainstorm approaches, expected to arrive late Wednesday and peak sometime Thursday, tapering off by the end of the week. The coastal and valley areas will see around 1 to 2 inches of rainfall, and the foothills should expect between 2 and 4 inches.
“It’ll definitely be a pretty good storm,” said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
While there’s some risk for the burn scars across Los Angeles because of possible thunderstorms, Thompson said forecasters are waiting until later in the week for storm models to develop before ringing the alarm. “Not a great concern right now, but it’s definitely there,” he said.
There’s some risk of flooding, especially in low-lying areas and urban roadways, but nothing specific to worry about in most places, Thompson said. The rain could even end up being a helpful follow-up to the precipitation from the past few weeks to stifle the possibility of wildfires.
“If the rainfall amounts work out as we’re expecting, this would be a great help to really put a kibosh, so to speak, on the fire season,” he said.
After the storm passes, the weekend is expected to be dry and cool, with highs in the 60s and low 70s — a bit below normal for the first time this year.
