Southern California residents who bundled up against wet weather over the Halloween weekend are trading their umbrellas for warmer forecasts as clear skies and rising temperatures move into the region this week.
The shift follows a stormy period that began with a wet Halloween night and brought intermittent showers through Sunday. Despite triggering flood advisories on Saturday night across Ventura, Orange, and San Diego counties, the region emerged relatively unscathed. National Weather Service officials reported no major flash flood or mudslide incidents resulting from the weekend weather.
Precipitation totals varied widely across the Southland. Most of the Los Angeles coast and metropolitan area received between a quarter-inch and an inch of rain, though some pockets saw heavier downpours. Alhambra, located in the San Gabriel Valley, recorded about an inch and a half of rain, marking one of the higher totals in the L.A. Basin. The coastal corridor connecting Ventura, Oxnard, and Point Mugu State Park also experienced heavier bands, capturing anywhere from half an inch to an inch and a half. Downtown Los Angeles logged an average of 0.7 inches of rain, while San Diego, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties generally saw between a quarter-inch and three-quarters of an inch across most coastal and inland areas, with higher amounts reported in the mountains.
Ocean conditions remained turbulent over the weekend. Beach hazard warnings stay in effect along the coast until Monday at 6 p.m. due to gusty west winds that whipped up choppy seas and a southern swell carrying into the start of the week. Forecasters anticipate calmer ocean conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, but note that an active storm pattern over the north Pacific will likely generate northwest swells impacting the coastline starting Thursday and peaking Saturday. Weekend storms did not introduce major new coastal erosion issues, according to officials, though areas previously impacted by recent wave events likely experienced minor effects.
By late Sunday, the rain had cleared across the region. Devin Black, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, noted that Southern California should experience generally dry conditions with seasonal temperatures through Thursday.
Conditions are expected to shift late in the week as a low-pressure ridge builds over the region. Weak to moderate Santa Ana winds sloping down from the mountains will warm the air, bringing low to moderate heat risk into the weekend. Black indicated that the elevated heat risk would likely be more pronounced near the coast. Paul Steward, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, added that temperatures could climb back into the mid-80s by the end of the week.
Looking further ahead, some weather models suggest a potential return of wet weather toward the middle of November, though forecasters emphasize that precipitation prospects for later in the month remain uncertain.
