What to Know
- The New Year's Eve forecast includes rain and wind.
- Conditions will dry out for the Rose Parade on Monday before more rain next week.
- The rain is a promising sign for drought conditions in California.
Southern California will close out 2022 with a storm that will bring rain and cool conditions for New Year's Eve weekend.
And, periods of rain are expected to continue into the new year.
A cold storm system will enter the region Saturday, bringing gusty southwest winds and moderate to heavy rain. Expect light showers Saturday morning before the rain picks up into the evening.
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"We've got moderate to heavy rain with the heaviest to come right before that midnight hour and overnight," said NBC4 forecaster Shanna Mendiola.
Snow levels could fall on Sunday morning, but most of the snowy will be at higher elevations, above 7,500 feet.
Rainfall totals from the weekend system are expected to reach 1 to 2 inches along the coast and into the valleys, with 2 to 4 inches possible in the foothills and mountains.
Here's a timeline for the storm.
- Late Friday Night Into Saturday Morning: Scattered light rain
- Saturday Afternoon: Rain becomes steady and widespread
- Saturday Evening to Midnight: Widespread moderate to heavy rain
Conditions are expected to dry out on Sunday, continuing into Tuesday. Another storm system could arrive between Tuesday and Thursday, bringing more rain to the area.
California Drought Update
The rain is a promising sign for drought conditions in California.
Nearly 98 percent of the state remained in drought at the end of December. More than 80 percent of the state was in severe drought, the third most severe category in the weekly Drought Monitor report.
A swath of the agricultural Central Valley north of Los Angeles remained in exceptional drought, the most severe category. Extreme drought stretched from northern Los Angeles County through the central part of the state to the Oregon border.
California has spent most of the last 15 years in drought conditions. The current three-year dry spell included one of the driest late winters on record.
The state's normal wet season runs from late fall to the end of winter, but dismal precipitation left about 95 percent of California in severe drought at the start of spring. By September, nearly all of California was in drought.
Much of California’s water comes from melting snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In an ideal scenario, storms blanket the mountains with snow during winter, building up the natural reservoir. That snow then melts in late spring and early summer, replenishing the state's water system. Snowpack was far below normal in Spring 2022.
California recorded its driest first three months of the year on record to start 2022. The dry stretch followed a promising December when storms drenched parts of the state and brought snow to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
But late fall storm brought reason for optimism. California's statewide snowpack level was more than 200 percent above normal in mid-December after powerful December storms blanketed the Sierra Nevada Mountains with snow.
In December 2021, statewide snowpack was at a dismal 22 percent to normal.
