After a few days of warm weather, meteorologists expect temperatures to cool down and light rain to roll in across Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire on Friday, Feb. 28, and through next week.
Orange County and the Inland Empire
Light and scattered showers are expected to start Friday evening into Saturday, with no chance of accumulation until around 10 p.m. Friday into the morning, said Paul Steward, a lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service San Diego. Accumulation isn’t expected to be more than a tenth of an inch.
High temperatures in the Inland Empire are expected to reach the mid-70s on Friday. In Orange County, highs could drop to the low- to mid-60s along the coast and reach around 70 degrees in the inland portions of the county.
Temperatures will continue to drop over the weekend, with high in the low- to mid-60s in the Inland Empire, and Orange County seeing coastal highs around 60 degrees and highs in the low-60s in inland cities. On Monday, temperatures could cool further, with highs in the mid- to upper-50s across the region before warming up a bit Tuesday.
“Temperatures all of next week are going to be right around the seasonal average or a tiny bit cooler,” Steward said. “From the warm temperatures we’ve had over the last couple of days, it’s going to feel a lot cooler.”
Another low pressure system is expected to move in Sunday, bringing another tenth of an inch scattered across the Inland Empire and Orange County. The rain will start with a light drizzle early Sunday, with the chance of rain increasing across the region in the later hours and into Monday morning.
Some lingering showers are expected Tuesday before another low pressure system moves in Wednesday. Meteorologists don’t yet know the timing of the precipitation Wednesday through the rest of next week.
Steward cautioned drivers to be careful on the roads Saturday, as the overnight rain could create slick conditions.
Los Angeles County
Communities across Los Angeles County can expect a “pretty sharp cooldown,” in temperatures Friday after a Thursday where highs across the area were in the 80s, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Los Angeles. On Friday, highs are expected to be in the low- to mid-70s, while weekend highs will cool to the 60s.
There’ll be an ongoing chance of rain across the county starting Friday through most of next week, Kittell said.
Some areas could see light rain Friday night into Saturday morning. About 60% of the area could see light rain pick up again Sunday. There is an additional possibility of showers Monday night into Tuesday and Tuesday night into Wednesday.
Another storm system is expected to move through Wednesday and could continue into Thursday, bringing light to moderate rain to about 70% of the area.
None of the predicted showers bring a possibility of heavy rain or flooding to the region, Kittell said.