Three storms expected to soak Los Angeles through next Friday

Scattered showers across Los Angeles and Ventura counties will gradually clear Saturday evening, with heavier rains to follow starting late Sunday and possibly continuing through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

Saturday’s rain is part of a storm that is expected to pack a wallop heading into Central and Northern California later Saturday before it doubles back south, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall Sunday night and into the Monday commuting hours in the L.A. Basin, said Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

A second storm could hit Southern California late Tuesday and Wednesday, with a third to follow Friday, although that is less certain, Munroe said.

While the storm’s expected arrival in Central and Northern California later Saturday prompted official warnings of widespread flooding and epic snowfall, conditions in Southern California were much tamer. There was little more than a drizzle early Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, while steady rain fell in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica Mountains and Ventura County, Munroe said.

Sunday’s rain will be quick-moving, with the heaviest downpours expected after midnight and into the early morning hours Monday, he added. Temperatures through next week are expected to reach the low 60s inland, about five degrees below normal, Munroe said.

As the storms build, authorities will be watching for land- and mudslides in burn areas left by the Fish fire in the San Gabriel Mountains near Azusa and the Sand fire near Santa Clarita, which are already saturated from December rains. But if hazards fail to materialize it “should be a good rain,” Munroe said.

gholland@latimes.com

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