Make California Post a Preferred Source Southern California is about to go from record-breaking heat to tropical storm misery, with the remnants of Hurricane Rachel barreling toward the region this weekend — bringing heavy rain, thunderstorms, coastal flooding and potentially 15-foot waves.
After baking in triple-digit temperatures for days, SoCal could get its first taste of the rainy season Sunday as Rachel gets ripped apart by a powerful low-pressure system off the California coast and sends a slug of tropical moisture north.
“Please beware of sudden changes in our weather from extreme heat to tropical weather,” meteorologist Jason D. Farhang warned Wednesday.
Rachel is expected to weaken into a post-tropical system before reaching Southern California, meaning the biggest threat won’t be hurricane-force winds but rather heavy rain, thunderstorms and dangerous surf.
“Rain and possible isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are going to be developing by Sunday late afternoon into Monday night,” Farhang said.
“Large waves are going to crash along the coastal zones with wave heights of 10 to 12 feet maybe even a rogue wave up to 15 feet along San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange Counties all the way down to Ensenada, Mexico,” Farhang said.
“Coastal flooding is very likely starting from Sunday at 11 AM to Wednesday at 6 PM,” he added.
Meteorologist Ben Brissey said Rachel’s remnants are increasingly likely to impact Southern California and that means a potentially badly needed soaking.
Showers could begin as early as Saturday night, followed by widespread rain and isolated thunderstorms Sunday, with the heaviest rainfall expected south and east of Los Angeles.
Rainfall totals could reach a quarter-inch to half an inch across much of Southern California, with up to an inch possible along lower coastal slopes and mountains. Some weather models, however, are showing totals ranging from just a tenth of an inch to as much as 2 inches.
Meteorologist Collin Gross said the storm is part of an unusually active week in the tropics, noting that Rachel will impact Southern California and Arizona as a post-tropical storm while other systems threaten the Gulf Coast and Mexico.
“Not very often you see several states in the Southwest U.S. in a National Hurricane Center forecast cone,” Gross said.
The National Weather Service is also warning beachgoers about the dangerous conditions, saying moderate to significant beach erosion is likely.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning. Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore,” the agency said.
The stormy weekend will deliver a dramatic reversal from the brutal heat that has gripped the region.
Downtown Los Angeles suffered four consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures this week — the longest such streak ever recorded there — while nine daily maximum-temperature records were set across the region, including in Los Angeles, Oxnard, Long Beach and Santa Ana.
Now, Brissey said, temperatures could plunge 5 to 10 degrees below normal Monday as the colder low-pressure system moves inland.
Rachel’s remnants are then expected to push into Arizona and Nevada before moving toward Utah, with fairer and warmer weather eventually returning to Southern California next week.
