Southern California’s rain and chilly temperatures predicted to break by Thursday

Forecasters are predicting more rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by drier and warmer days through the rest of the week in Southern California.

The National Weather Service in San Diego said there was between a 40 and 70 percent chance of rain throughout Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties on Tuesday, while the NWS in Los Angeles said there was a 20 percent chance of rain in Los Angeles County.

Though the rain has continued through February and March, the NWS isn’t predicting inches of precipitation on Tuesday and Wednesday. Orange and Los Angeles counties are only expected to get around one-tenth an inch of rain. Cities and towns in the Inland Empire are projected to receive anywhere between one-tenth and one-half inch of rain.

Snow levels could drop as low as 4,000 feet in Los Angeles County, with 12-18 inches of snow forecasted above 5,000 feet, the NWS said. Highway 2 and 39, along with Big Pines Highway in the San Gabriel Mountains, will have hazardous driving conditions.

A Winter Storm Warning was put into place by the NWS until 12 p.m. on Tuesday for mountains above 5,500 feet in Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. Winter Storm Warnings state that heavy snow is expected and those traveling should expect difficult conditions.

Weather officials predicted Wrightwood would get 8-12 inches of snow and Big Bear would get 12-18 inches through Tuesday afternoon.

Along with the potential rain, the NWS forecasted clear skies and high temperatures between 65 and 70 degrees and lows from the mid-40s to low 50s in much of Southern California on Tuesday and Wednesday. But Los Angeles and cities further inland such as Temecula, Redlands and Hemet are expected to have partially cloudy skies and high temperatures between the high 50s and low 60s on Tuesday and Wednesday, with similar lows to the rest of Southern California.

Joe Dandrea, a meteorologist with the NWS in San Diego, said he expects winds to the northwest between 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 30 mph.

Chances of rain drop to between 10 and 20 percent in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties on Wednesday, according to the NWS.

The NWS said temperatures in Los Angeles should persist until Thursday, when they’ll rise to the mid- and high-60s. Orange County and the Inland Empire should follow similar trends, with temperatures there rising to the high-60s on Thursday and above 70 degrees later in the week.

“It looks like the patterns are going to change and then hold through mid-next week,” Dandrea said. “It does look like there will be some chance of rain returning mid-next week, but it doesn’t look like a huge amount for us. That’s the next chance, but that’s the edge of our forecast.”