A single-day storm was expected to drop about a quarter-inch of rain in Southern California on Wednesday, March 3, with a few inches of snow in the local mountains, meteorologists said.
The storm was expected to continue through the early evening in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles and Orange counties, meteorologists with the National Weather Service said. Some coastal areas, including Long Beach, had some lightning flashes and booming thunder in the morning.
Huntington Beach and Seal Beach temporarily closed their beaches due to potential lightning strikes.
“When thunder roars go indoors,” said Dan Gregoria, an NWS meteorologist. “With any thunderstorm, locally there’s heavy rainfall. We’re not expecting any widespread flooding, but potentially some heavier amounts.”
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Hewey Nguyen shoots baskets at the Great Park in Irvine, CA on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 as storm clouds move in. Much of Orange County was expected to get rain. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Reese Ogura, 2, from Rancho Cucamonga, runs in her cardboard car with her mother Brianna at Central Park in Rancho Cucamonga as a storm approaches the area on Wednesday morning Mar. 3, 2021. Ogura was part of a group that is home schooled and were doing a project on transportation. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)
Mountain areas in Riverside and San Bernardino counties could see 1 to 3 inches of snow at 5,000 feet elevation, with up to 6 inches at some peaks. The eastern San Gabriel Mountains could get up to 3 inches of snow.
After an extremely dry February, Wednesday’s quick-hitting storm won’t do much for this year’s rainfall levels. But, at least “it’s something,” Gregoria said.
For example at John Wayne Airport, this water year has only seen 3.23 inches of rain, which is about 7 inches below average, according to Gregoria.
Downtown Los Angeles was at 4.39 inches of rain so far, compared to 11 inches which is normal for this time of year, said Mike Wofford, another National Weather Service meteorologist.
While the short-lived storm was dropping on Southern California Wednesday, forecasts for Thursday and into the weekend show sun and warmer temperatures on the way.
Temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s are forecast for Thursday and some areas could reach the high 70s come Saturday.
However, Wofford said that March and April in the past have brought some decent rainfall, including potential for more rain next week.
“I don’t think any of them are super heavy,” Wofford said of next week’s potential storms. “But better than what we have now. There’s some hope that we’ll start improving our numbers a little bit.”
The storm was also expected to bring decent snow to Northern California, which Wofford said at least will help with the state’s water supply.
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