Cold, wet and snowy Christmas storm coming to Southern California

LOS ANGELES — Southern California will catch a break Tuesday from the weather, but a cold, strong storm with the potential to drop up to 3 inches of rain in some parts of Los Angeles County and up to 2 feet of snow in the local mountains is forecast to slam the region on Christmas night.

Rainfall totals of up to 2 inches in Malibu and Pasadena and up to 1.5-inches in Long Beach and Santa Clarita were predicted by the National Weather Service, which also forecast that snow levels could drop down to 3,500 feet, bringing up to 2 feet of snow to nearby mountains and flakes to the Antelope Valley.

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Up to 3 inches of rain were forecast for the San Gabriel Mountains, the weather service said.

Drivers were warned to expect winter driving conditions, which includes slick, wet roads, on the 5 Freeway through the Grapevine and along the 14 Freeway, the NWS said.

According to the weather service, the area of Rolling Hills received 3.09 inches of rain, Malibu Canyon had 2.6 inches and downtown Los Angeles received 1.72 inches between the start of the last storm, which began Sunday afternoon, through Monday.

There were no weather-related road closures reported Tuesday morning.

Only one storm-related power outage was reported Tuesday, affecting 13 Southern California Edison customers in East Los Angeles.