Southern California is on target for a violent storm that will blow through the region starting Thursday, likely causing urban flooding and wind damage, according to the National Weather Service.
“It feels really nice outside now, but that’s deceiving because a big storm is coming,” said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. “Orange County and Los Angeles County are right in the bull’s-eye.”
The Inland Empire will get hit, but not as hard.
Wednesday will be pleasant, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 70s.
However, by midday Thursday ominous clouds will begin rolling into the region, bringing 20 mph to 30 mph wind gusts from the south, with temperatures hitting the mid-60s.
“Then things turn nasty,” Tardy said.
Early Friday, at the peak of the morning commute, heavy rains are expected to pound Orange and Los Angeles counties, and damaging winds could reach 60 mph along the coast throughout the day, Tardy said.
“This particular storm has a very strong jet stream, and we are going to take a direct hit in Southern California,” he said.
On Friday, driving may be a bit hazardous, with tree limbs falling and mudslides possible.
Orange and Los Angeles counties may be inundated with as much as 3 to 5 inches of rain, causing extreme runoff from already saturated soil.
“At this point it (flooding potential) is getting dangerous,” Tardy said. “If this storm materializes, there could be urban-area flooding, particularly along the Santa Ana River and Los Angeles River.”
The storm could bring as much as 2 inches of rain to Riverside, 7 to the Santa Ana and San Gabriel mountains, and up to 5 inches in the San Bernardino Mountains foothills, Tardy said. Ski resorts should receive at least 1 foot of snow.
Saturday will remain partly cloudy with a chance of showers. “The big thing Saturday will be cleaning up debris from Friday’s flooding,” Tardy said.
There will be a chance of light precipitation Sunday and Monday.
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