Westwood To Get Rain For First Day Of Winter And Christmas

LOS ANGELES, CA — It’s beginning to look a lot like a wet and white Christmas for Southern California. Just in time for the first officials day of winter, rain is expected to drench the Los Angeles region Sunday thanks to a cold front out of the Gulf of Alaska, according to the National Weather System

The first storm of the winter is expected to stick around through Monday, bringing rain to Los Angeles and dusting the local mountains with snow at higher elevations. Light showers could hang around until Christmas Eve when a second and more powerful storm is expected to make its way into the region, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Lisa Phillips.

The weekend storm is expected to drop 3 to 6 inches of snow in the local mountains at elevations of 5,000 feet or higher, which should leave the grapevine open for holiday travel.

“The first storm system will be moving in on Sunday. We could see half an inch to an inch of rain that should go into Monday, and then we are expecting some light showers Tuesday and Wednesday,” Phillips said. “Then we have another system coming in late Wednesday to Friday.

That second system could bring a few inches of rain to the region while dropping snow levels to 4,000 to 4,5000 feet. That’s low enough to potentially affect travel on the Grapevine, and State Route 14. Travelers looking to experience a white Christmas in the mountains should bring chains with them.

Along with the wet weather, the storms out of the north will cool things down a little across the Los Angeles region. The daytime high forecast for Los Angeles Saturday is 73 degrees, but the mild weather will disappear with the storms, reaching a daytime low of 53 in Los Angeles, forecasts the weather service.