Heavy rain forecast for SCV

The Santa Clarita Valley and the rest of Southern California are in for a wet start to the week with heavy rain and a slight chance of thunderstorms in the forecast.

Commuters should be ready for heavy rainfall early this morning and into the week as a lowpressure system tapping into subtropical moisture is on schedule to bring a generous amount of rain for what has been a dry start to 2020.

The heaviest downpour is expected this morning through Wednesday morning, according to Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Rain was expected to begin around or after midnight today and continue throughout the day, with the heaviest expected in the afternoon hours.

“We’re expecting 1 to 3 inches of rain during the Monday through Wednesday period but most of that will be on Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning,” said Hoxsie.

Some foothill areas, such as in the San Gabriel Mountains, could see up to 4 inches of rain and snow levels at around 7,000 feet, she added.

The storm is forecasted to bring wind gusts as high as 20 mph and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures are expected to be warmer than typically colder storms, said Hoxsie.

“The low pressure is dropping down from the north but staying off the coast until it hits SoCal, then hitting the inland areas,” she said, adding that because of that movement, it will mix with warm, subtropical moisture, “which will bring us significant rainfall and the reason why this will be a warm storm.”

Precipitation is expected to subside by the end of the week but another storm system could bring additional showers next week, according to the National Weather Service.