Rainfall expected to hit SCV early next week
Temperatures will have highs in the upper-60s, low-70s and lows in the high-40s, weather experts say
After a bout of unseasonably warm and dry weather conditions, rain is expected to return to the Santa Clarita Valley as early as Monday night, according to officials.
“There is still some uncertainty since it’s still a bit further out, but there is that potential for that more widespread first significant rainfall of the year,” National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologist Robbie Munroe said. “(Forecasts show) rainfall starting as early as Monday evening and continuing, at least at times, through Wednesday.”
Current forecasts indicate that there will be a 40 percent chance of rain Monday evening and a 70 percent chance of rain Tuesday and Wednesday.
Temperatures during this time will have highs in the upper-60s and low-70s and lows in the high-40s.
Since the storm is still expected to be days away, the NWS is not sure how much rainfall is expected to fall on the area Monday through Wednesday; however, there is a potential for it to be the first long-lasting rainfall of the season.
“There is still considerable uncertainty with the timing and how much rainfall we will see with these,” Munroe said. “It’s hard to say if it will be a major storm, at the very least it would be the first widespread water event for the region.”
But, if it is a bigger storm, it would be the first major storm of the water year, which began Oct. 1.
The storm would also bring some relief to Southern California, which has not seen any significant rainfall this year.
The NWS’ Climate Prediction Center believes the drought will develop and expand throughout Southern California this winter and spring due to the region’s below-normal precipitation.
According to the latest report from the United States Drought Monitor, 44.30 percent of California is abnormally dry and 12.69 percent is in moderate drought, including an area spanning across the SCV.
Despite these results, the conditions are better than they were one year ago, when 82.53 percent of California was abnormally dry, 68.87 percent was in moderate drought, 57.79 percent was in exceptional drought, 40.60 percent was in extreme drought and 18.31 percent was in severe drought.