What to Know
- Measurable rain has not been recorded in the Los Angeles area since May 21.
- The approaching system is raising some fears of mud slides and debris flows .
- The weather system is unusually strong for this time of the year.
Southern California faces the possibility of flooding and slides in wildfire burn areas, including in the Cleveland National Forest in Orange County near the site of the recent Holy Fire, as a storm brings rain to the region this week.
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The remnants of Hurricane Rosa -- now a tropical depression -- will not be much of a factor in the Southland's rain Instead, the rain will be largely a product of an upper-level low-pressure system that originated in the central Pacific.
A heavy band of rain moved through the Santa Barbara County area early Wednesday.
"We're going to be looking at some wet roads out there," said NBC4 forecaster Shanna Mendiola. "It's the first rain of the season, but it's not expected to be too heavy of a storm."
Although not a monster, the approaching weather system is unusually strong for this time of the year. Most of the precipitation will crop up Wednesday between noon and midnight.
Measurable rain has not been recorded in the Los Angeles area since May 21.
It's a weak storm, but an encourging start to California's water year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. The Department of Water Resources announced Monday that the just-ended water year was marked by hot and dry conditions except for sporadic significant precipitation.
The approaching system is raising some fears of mud slides and debris flows over areas previously burned by wildfire -- including near the site of the Holy Fire in Orange County and, in L.A. County, the La Tuna Fire near Burbank and the Creek Fire north of Sylmar -- but those concerns are not particularly acute because mostly light rain is expected. However, the risk of slides will increase considerably if thunderstorms appear since they can generate heavy downpours.
Burn areas are particularly succeptible to flooding because areas stripped of vegetation do not absorb water. Instead, rain bounces off the surface and can flow downhill.
Showers are expected to continue Wednesday evening, when a slight chance of thunderstorms will be in the forecast, followed by a small chance of showers after midnight.
Sunny skies are expected Thursday.
A slight chance of showers will persist in Orange County Thursday morning before mostly sunny skies prevail in the afternoon.
