A rare spring storm will bring rain, strong winds and snow for the Easter holiday weekend in Southern California.
Over the past 30 years, there have been only four rainy Easter holidays in Los Angeles — 2020, 2013, 2010 and 1995. In 1995, LA received more than a half-inch of rain on Easter, which fell on April 16 that year.
Easter 2024 is set to join that list.
The slow-moving storm is expected to bring rain late Friday through the weekend with lingering showers to start the week.
Flood watches were set to go into effect Friday evening for widespread parts of Southern California, including Los Angeles County, inland Orange County, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, and the Ventura County coast. More severe flash flooding warnings could be issued as the storm settles in over the region during the weekend.
Here’s what the wet and windy weather means for the Easter holiday weekend in Southern California.
Easter weekend storm timeline
The most significant rainfall will be Saturday. After a night of gusty winds reaching up to 45 mph in the mountains and deserts, rain will become steadier through Saturday morning.
A line of heavy rain is forecast to move from west to east Saturday morning across the Los Angeles region. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast for the afternoon and evening.
By Sunday, scattered showers will develop, but there’s a chance for isolated thunderstorms with the threat of lightning, hail and heavy downpours. Even brief downpours could bring the threat of flash flooding.
Rain totals are expected to range from 1 to 3 inches in most areas with more than 3 inches possible in foothill and mountain communities. Any additional rain on hillsides soaked during Southern California’s winter storms will raise the risk of slides and flooding.
“The ground, while drier than February, still has quite a bit of moisture in it, so it may not take much heavy rainfall to create some flooding problems,” said NBCLA meteorologist David Biggar. “I’d expect to see our typical roadway flooding issues around the region on Saturday morning. There will probably be some minor rockslides and debris flows around steeper canyon roadways.”
As for snowfall, 1 to 2 feet are possible above 6,500 feet. Snow and gusty winds could affect travel in mountain passes. Snow levels will drop from 5,500 to 6,000 feet early Saturday to around 4,500 feet Saturday night.
The average high temperature on Easter in Los Angeles is 71 degrees, but weekend temperatures will dip to well below normal.
Atmospheric Rivers play a big part in the movement of moisture around the globe, and can make or break the rain season for California. When a strong atmospheric river points towards Southern California, we can see significant rainfall. Meteorologist David Biggar shows how common they are, and how they can impact our weather.
The storm will draw moisture from a weak atmospheric river over the Pacific as it moves toward California. The rivers of moisture in the sky have fueled some of Southern California’s most powerful storms, including the multi-day system that produced record rainfall earlier this year.
The Los Angeles Fire Department received hundreds of landslide reports during the early February storm, including along Mulholland Drive and in Topanga Canyon. Parts of both canyon roads remain closed with more rain on the way.
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