A cold, wet storm system is forecast to travel through California later this week, increasing the chances that Los Angeles on Saturday could get its first rainfall since early May — which would coincide with a possible World Series Game 7 at Dodger Stadium.
Meteorologists say there is still some uncertainty in the forecast, with some models showing heavy rain, while others show none. But odds are increasingly pointing toward a wet Saturday.
“There’s a pretty good possibility for some light rain across the L.A. area Saturday morning and afternoon,” said Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. He noted that it’s still too early to say just how much precipitation the region could see, but any measurable rainfall would break downtown L.A.’s streak of 177 days without rain. That’s the seventh longest stretch without rain on record since the late 1800s, Wofford said.
“The last day we had measurable rain in downtown L.A. was May 5,” Wofford said. That day, the city recorded 0.13 inches.
The low pressure system bringing this chance of rain to L.A. is expected to bring that precipitation first to Northern California on Friday. It will be accompanied by cooler temperatures, potentially resulting in some snowfall in the mountains.
Then Saturday in Southern California, the storm system “will bring the possibility for rain showers to most of the area, high-elevation snow and gusty winds, potentially leading to some hazardous impacts,” the National Weather Service’s daily forecast said.
“It’s pretty cold too. It looks like the mountains — Sierra, Tahoe, Mammoth — will get some snow,” Wofford said. “Wrightwood and Big Bear will probably get a little bit of snow.”
Temperatures are expected to drop 10 to 15 degrees below average for this time of year Saturday, with highs for downtown L.A. and the surrounding valleys in the low to mid-60s, Wofford said. Frost will be possible in some interior valleys.
But until Saturday, the region should remain clear, though slightly cool, with highs on Thursday hitting the high 60s and low 70s before dipping at night. On Friday evening, when Game 6 of the World Series would be played in Dodger Stadium if necessary, evening temperatures in Los Angeles are expected to be in the low to mid-60s.
