Southern California could feel more like Florida the rest of this week, forecasters said, as moisture from a tropical storm in the eastern Pacific shifts north, boosting humidity and the chance for unstable weather in the region.
“The next several days, we’re getting the remnants of the energy from Tropical Storm Mario,” said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. “It’s giving us this threat of thunderstorms.”
Those storms could create fires from dry-lightning strikes or flash floods and debris flows depending on how strong they turn out to be, the National Weather Service warned.
Most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties are expected to get a half-inch of rain Wednesday through Friday, with mountain areas seeing around up to an inch, according to the weather service. But some areas could get up to two inches of rain locally, with some dangerous rainfall rates possible.
The chance for localized flooding and debris flows are most likely Thursday and Friday, and those storms could also bring some strong, isolated winds.
On Wednesday morning, forecasters were already tracking a storm that moved from the San Luis Obispo coast and moved onshore, bringing mostly dry lightning. The system had moved over the footprint of the Gifford fire, which is the state’s largest fire this year at 131,000 acres. While the fire that ignited in August is now considered 98% contained, forecasters said the dry lightning strikes “will be a main concern.”
Dry lightning will remain a threat primarily Wednesday, though it’s not out of the question the rest of the week. The forecast storms are likely to include more moisture Thursday and Friday as they become more widespread, affecting “pretty much anywhere in Southern California,” Thompson said.
But mostly, the weather pattern will make it feel “warm and muggy” across the Southland, more akin with Florida weather — though not quite as hot or humid as you might feel in Orlando or Miami, Thompson said.
“It’s just going to be a bit more uncomfortable with that extra humidity moving in,” he said.
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