It looks like that muggy moisture hanging in the air across Southern California won’t be going away any time soon.
For the second week in a row, forecasts show high humidity and a chance for showers over the next several days, as more tropical moisture is pulled into the area from the Pacific.
The pattern this week isn’t expected to bring any significant rainfall to the Los Angeles area, but it could keep things unusually swampy and unstable —with a chance for brief, isolated storms and showers — through at least the weekend.
The probability of precipitation is most likely on Tuesday and Wednesday, occurring mostly east and north of L.A. County, primarily over Santa Barbara County.
“In general, [it] still looks like less than a half an inch,” said Bryan Lewis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. “L.A. County will be less than that even, if any at all.”
But, he said, the moisture in the atmosphere will be noticeable.
“You’ll still feel that humidity even if there isn’t a ton of rain,” Lewis said.
Last week, when the remnants of Tropical Storm Mario blew north, most of the Los Angeles area ended up getting only about a tenth of an inch of rain Thursday. Some areas, however, saw dramatic rainfall over a short period of time, causing minor flooding in Twentynine Palms and dangerous mud and debris flows in the San Bernardino County mountains, trapping several motorists. Angelus Oaks and Idyllwild recorded almost an inch of rain on Thursday, while Big Bear Lake got three-quarters of an inch, according to the National Weather Service.
Lewis said the low-pressure system that is pulling another bout of tropical moisture north this week is not as strong as what played out last week.
There may be a dry break Thursday, but Lewis said more showers are possible Friday and Saturday — and then there’s a chance for new storms as early as Sunday from Tropical Storm Narda, which continues to develop off the coast of southern Mexico.
“That will move northwest over the next few days,” Lewis said of the newly-named cyclone. “As that gets a little bit closer … that could funnel more moisture in.”
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