#california-weather

#california-weather

Showers moving into the region from the Central Coast should bring steady rain to Ventura and Los Angeles counties Thursday morning, with frosty temperatures pushing snow levels lower than normal, potentially impacting commuters along the Grapevine, according to the National Weather Service. "Steady precipitation will taper off to showers by late this afternoon and become confined to the mountains by late tonight," the weather service posted in a Thursday morning forecast.

"A dry January, which is historically the wettest month of the year in California, has now eroded the gains made at the start of the year and forecasts currently show no major precipitation in the next two weeks," California Department of Weather Resources spokesperson Jason Ince wrote in a Jan. 30 news release. The first month of the year certainly left the area warmer and drier than usual, weather officials confirmed.

California's already wet winter is breaking rainfall records, with another powerful storm moving in this weekend along with the threat of new flooding and mudslides. After a remarkable dry streak in 2024 that helped fuel last January's firestorms, this winter is making up for it, with some areas already approaching average rain totals for the entire season. "It's been an interesting season," said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. "We're way above normal for precipitation."

After weeks of monsoon-fueled thunderstorms, wildfires and sweltering heat, " an early season cold front " is expected to bring temperatures down across California this week. "We're going to have rapid cooling, with the biggest drop in temperatures tomorrow," Kristan Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard, said Monday. "This is one of the biggest cooldowns we've seen, especially since June. ... This will bring temperatures pretty far below normal."

In the forecast for Shasta, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties, both wet and dry thunderstorms are likely, increasing wildfire risk and prompting red flag warnings.