Summer heat won’t last: Another cold, wet storm set to hit SoCal this weekend

Southern California has started to feel like, well, Southern California again, with sunny afternoons pushing highs into the 80s this week.

But don’t start planning warm-weather weekend activities just yet.

“Friday is when [temperatures] decrease; it drops 10 degrees because we have an approaching storm system,” said Kristan Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

“Unfortunately,” she added. “I am pretty sure it’s been every weekend for the last several weekends too.”

These cold, wet Northern Pacific storms have seemingly targeted Angelenos’ spring weekends, hitting week after week on Friday or Saturday — often chilling outdoor weekend plans.

But after this system — which is expected to bring cool temperatures, rain and mountain snow across the state — long-term forecasts predict a much drier last half of the month. From April 15 to 23, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center shows almost all of California trending toward below-average rainfall.

But first, Southern California must suffer through another cold, soggy weekend.

Considerable cooling and winds are expected to move in on Friday with the storm’s cold front, before rain begins Friday evening, lasting through Sunday.

While temperatures Wednesday and Thursday will hit 75 to 85 degrees across the Southland — with a chance of reaching 90 degrees in Woodland Hills — they’ll drop to around 65 to 75 by Friday, Lund said, and even lower in the mountains.

Rain will arrive Friday night, starting out steady before transitioning to showers, Lund said. Still, meteorologists say total rain amounts aren’t expected to be high, with Los Angeles County totals measuring around a quarter to three-quarters of an inch from this system.

Farther south, in Orange and San Diego counties, only light showers are expected on and off through the weekend, likely remaining under a tenth of an inch, forecasters said.

But across the Central Coast, much heavier rainfall is predicted, with the possibility of up to 3 inches, most falling Saturday.

Because of the forecast, the section of Highway 1 in Big Sur that collapsed two weekends ago will be closed to motorists on Saturday. The California Department of Transportation announced it would halt its one-lane convoys that have been ferrying drivers through the Rocky Creek slip-out.

The storm will also bring snowfall to the mountains, from 1 to 4 inches in the Southern California ranges, forecasts show. Snow levels will drop to about 4,500 feet in elevation Saturday night to Sunday, but those lower spots aren’t expected to see much accumulation, Lund said.

Farther east, several inches of snow are expected across the Sierra Nevada, primarily falling on Saturday.