May is off to a wet start in Southern California with cold temperatures and rain over the weekend
Los Angeles is expected to see colder temperatures and some light rain over the weekend, kicking off a wet start to May.
L.A. County has about a 30% chance of rain Saturday into Sunday morning, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld. Rainfall totals are expected to range between 0.1 inch and 0.25 inches in lower elevations, with more potentially in mountain regions.
Temperatures are expected to drop over the weekend, as an increase in air flowing in from the Pacific Ocean will bump up the marine layer clouds and the influence of the sea breeze, Schoenfeld said.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, wrote in an April 23 blog post that a “slightly unsettled pattern of weak but possibly colder low pressure systems” will move across the West Coast over the next few weeks, keeping temperatures at below-normal values.
A deep marine layer is building across much of Southern California, the start of a cooler, wetter pattern. Light rain is possible through Saturday.
For the Los Angeles region, Tuesday temperatures are expected to be in the upper 60s near the coast and the low 80s for warmer areas, including the Santa Clarita Valley, San Fernando Valley and Antelope Valley, according to the weather service. Temperatures will drop slightly every day; they’re expected to top out in the upper 70s in interior regions such as Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley by Thursday.
By Saturday, temperatures will cool to the mid-60s at the coast and the mid-70s for warmer spots, including valley areas. Downtown Los Angeles will hover between the upper 60s and low 70s. Sunday will see temperatures struggling to reach 70 degrees for the region; DTLA is expected to be around 69.
Below-normal temperatures could persist until at least Tuesday, when it could start warming up again, Schoenfeld said.
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