It’s finally time to stash away those rain boots — at least for a little while.
After a sopping start to the new year, Southern California’s persistent drizzle is expected to wrap up by late Tuesday, ushering in a period of dry conditions, warmer temperatures and even some Santa Ana winds by the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
“By the end of the month, there might be another chance of some rain moving in, but right now — at least for the next couple weeks — it should be dry,” said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
It’s not yet clear just how strong the Santa Ana winds might be, but Thompson said there is some risk of downed trees given the saturated soils from weeks of rain. But that also means the risk of fire weather that typically accompanies the winds will be low, he said.
Southern California has experienced a historic start to the water year, which began Oct. 1, with storms soaking the regioneach month and back-to-back systems walloping the mountains and foothills over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
But the short-term forecast after Tuesday’s rain will be markedly different.
Forecasters estimate temperatures could reach the high 60s at the beaches and into the 70s further inland. At night, temperatures are expected to remain low, dipping into the 40s.
Though the region is getting Santa Ana winds in early January again, the landscape is not dry and primed for fast-moving fires as it was last Jan. 7, when multiple blazes exploded into unprecedented firestorms.
The final rainy days of 2025 helped pull California almost completely out of drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. And that’s even before the wettest months of the year, traditionally January and February.
Since Oct. 1, downtown Los Angeles has received 14.11 inches of rain, about 9.81 inches above what’s normal for the period. Typically, downtown Los Angeles sees about 14.25 inches of rain during an entire season, according to the weather service.
“Those kinds of trends go for every climate site here in Southern California,” Thompson said. “If you look at Burbank, Oxnard, Camarillo, Santa Barbara, it’s the same story. We’re well above normal for this time of year.”
The latest storm dumped 1.16 inches of rain on downtown Los Angeles as of Monday morning, while Beverly Hills and Bel-Air received 1.28 and 1.27 inches, respectively.
An advisory for swimmers to avoid the water at L.A. County beaches was extended on Monday through Thursday at 8 a.m. out of concern for elevated bacteria levels due to storm runoff.
Santa Barbara County was hit harder, with 5.19 inches of rain falling in the Refugio Pass and 5.04 inches falling along the Gaviota Coast.
In San Diego County, Carlsbad received 1.49 inches of rain over the two-day period that ended at 5 a.m. Monday. The mountains saw even more precipitation, with just over 3 inches falling in Palomar and 2.67 inches falling in Birch Hill.
The rain prompted multiple road closures over the weekend, including a 3.6-mile stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive along with State Route 33 between Fairview Road and Lockwood Valley Road in the Los Padres National Forest. The California Department of Transportation closed all lanes along State Route 2 from 3.3 miles east of Newcomb’s Ranch to State Route 138 in Angeles National Forest.
The weekend deluge sent mud and debris flowing onto roads in Wrightwood, the community in the San Gabriel Mountains that was slammed with mudslides during another destructive storm on Christmas Eve.
In Santa Barbara County, workers reopened all lanes of the 101 Freeway on Sunday afternoon after heavy precipitation triggered a series of mudslides, sending dirt and water onto the freeway. Repairs to the road are expected to continue for several weeks, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Times staff writer Kailyn Brown contributed to this report
The post Southern California is about to get a break from the rain. How long will it last? appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
