Hurricane Kay To Bring Rain, Cool-Down To Hollywood

LOS ANGELES, CA — The dramatic record-setting heatwave that's lasted for 10 days, spurred on wildfires and brought California to the brink of an energy crisis may come to an end every bit as dramatic as it started thanks to Hurricane Kay.

The Hurricane making its way up the coast of Baja California is expected to bring thunderstorms and a chance of rain Friday through Monday along with a significant drop in temperatures, according to the National Weather Service. Despite the cloud cover and chance of rain, Friday is expected to be hot as well as muggy. The week-long excessive heat warning will remain in place through Friday. A cool-down won't start until the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Hollywood is expected to have a high of 99 degrees Friday and a chance of rain before steadily cooling down to 81 degrees by Wednesday, according to Accuweather. The chance of rain is highest Saturday and Sunday.

The weather service is predicting a 30 percent chance of lightning, thunder and showers, starting Friday, increasing to a 60 percent chance of rain by Saturday in Los Angeles County. With the unsettled weather, temperatures are expected to drop by more than 20 degrees across parts of the region.

The actual impact of the storm is still a little uncertain because it's unclear how much Kay will weaken as it moves north. But National Weather Service forecasters said the storm will bring clouds and chances of showers and thunderstorms in some areas.

The latest models predict the storm system may not move as far north as earlier predicted, but forecasters said Los Angeles County is still likely to see some rain.

The impact of Kay could be felt locally as early as Friday, according to the NWS, which noted that the storm will begin to push some cloud cover across the region. Absent those clouds, Friday was predicted to be the hottest of the next three days, "and it still might be even with the cloud cover," according to the NWS.

Excessive heat warnings will be in place in most of the Southland through Friday, with some possibly extending into Saturday morning, forecasters said.

Saturday is expected to start off warm, but depending on Kay's advance, temperatures should "level off quickly and possibly cool some during the day as showers develop," according to the NWS.

The amount of rain that will fall remains a mystery, but the NWS predicted "measurable precipitation" in the area.

"Widespread light to moderate rain is likely Saturday and maybe Sunday, mainly over Los Angeles and Ventura counties," forecasters said. "Isolated thunderstorms are also expected, especially in the mountains, which could produce heavy rain and flash flooding."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.