This weekend will be mostly overcast and rainy as the bulk of a storm was expected to move in from the Pacific Northwest Saturday and stick around Southern California through Monday.
Showers - and snow above 6,000 feet in elevation - were expected to increase in the mountains, with the snow level dropping to between 3,500 and 4,000 feet late Saturday night.
Heavy rain was expected overnight. Up to half an inch of rain could fall in scattered showers expected across the Southland, according to forecasts, but much of the accumulation expected to come Saturday will be in the mountains, NBC4 meterologist Shanna Mendiola said.
"Your weekend storm is looking a little bit heavy in the way of snow," Mendiola said. "Periods of rain definitely for everyone else in the LA Basin, the IE and the OC."
Showers were in the forecast for Saturday, baffling those along the coast where nary a cloud was visible, but stormy weather arrived in the mountains and promised to make Sunday and Monday generally wet and cold.
Glendora was prepared for rain-triggered mudslides, as its Colby burn area was under a yellow alert and city crews set up protective barriers and sandbags. The exposed hillsides left by fires are vulnerable to heavy rain, and homes and infrastructure were damaged by recent rain-triggered mudslides in Malibu, Camarillo Springs and Glendora.
"Some of these people everything they own, everything they have, could be ogne in a matter of a few minutes. That's how fast it could happen," said Sheldon Grant, a former Glendora resident.
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Temperatures are expected to stay in the 60s at lower altitudes, according to NBC4's futurecast, while isolated thunderstorms are possible through the weekend, starting Saturday night.
Sunshine (daytime heating) + unstable air = Development of Tstorms. Don't be fooled by the sun, storms can popup w/the right ingredients — Shanna Mendiola (@ShannaNBCLA) February 28, 2015
A 48-hour storm warning was set to go into effect at 4 p.m. Saturday for elevations above 5,000 feet in Riverside County mountains, where vehicles will be required to carry snow chains. A winter weather advisory was in place for some of Los Angeles's mountains.
Between 8 and 12 inches of snow should fall on mountains above 7,000 feet, dropping down less than 4 inches between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, Mendiola said.
Drizzle fell in Glendora Friday night, but more rain was expected over the weekend. Snow briefly fell Saturday afternoon in Big Bear.
City News Service contributed to this report.
