A winter storm is expected to bring up to a foot of snow to local ski resorts Sunday night as well as scattered showers and possibly hail to the Los Angeles area.
The Big Bear area is under a winter storm warning, with around a foot of snow possible at higher elevations, according to the National Weather Service. That is welcome news for resort operators, who have been struggling with a dry season.
The snow level could also drop to 3,500 feet at the Grapevine at the Kern County line, creating treacherous conditions for drivers on Interstate 5. Pockets of heavy rain and some thunder were moving through the Westside toward downtown Sunday afternoon.
A second, weaker storm is expected to pass through Southern California Monday afternoon and evening.
But the rain will not put much of a dent in the state’s lingering drought.
“If we don’t have a March miracle, this will be the fourth really disappointing year in a row,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.
”Right now it’s enough to make my cactus smile and to green everything up," he said. "But we would need an inch a day for the next 30 days to make a dent in this drought… Let’s get right down to it, this is puny.”
Patzert said that since July 1, the beginning of the rainy season, the Los Angeles area has received about 6.4 inches of rain
“That is about 59% of where we should be at,” he said. “We should be over 10 inches by now.”
Patzert said it’s possible if the region doesn’t get more rain in March that there could be some rationing this summer.
Meanwhile, a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County was shut down in both directions early Sunday after a mudslide, authorities said.
The slide occurred about 5:40 a.m., prompting the road's closure between Calleguas Creek and Mugu Rock.
The roadway is not expected to reopen until late Sunday evening or possibly Monday morning, officials said.
A nine-mile stretch of the highway -- between Las Posas and Yerba Buena roads -- just reopened Friday after being closed in late November because of mud and rockslides. The months-long road closure was necessary to stabilize the road and make sure drivers were safe, California Highway Patrol officials said.
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