Light rain, snow to kick off new year in Southern California

The first week of the new year will be a damp one in Southern California as a storm system is set to arrive on Wednesday, Jan. 3, bringing light, scattered storms and some snow across the region.

The system will move over the region early Wednesday, likely before the crack of dawn, and make its way first over the Orange County area with a chance of possible thunderstorms, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Brandt Maxwell.

Around a quarter inch of rain is expected to fall Wednesday in Orange County, with the rain tapering off by the late afternoon.

In the Inland Empire, San Bernardino and Riverside counties will be the next stop on the storm’s path, arriving in the later morning hours and bringing similar rainfall levels, Maxwell said.

Heading up into the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains, around 3 to 8 inches of snow is expected to drop above 5,000 feet, with the possibility for some of the lowest snowfall this season at around 4,000 feet, Maxwell said.

In Los Angeles County, the San Gabriel Mountains will also see snowfall, with around 3 to 6 inches expected to drop above 4,000 feet, said NWS meteorologist Carol Smith. Los Angeles County will be the last stop on the storm’s path Wednesday morning, dropping around a quarter to a third of an inch of rain.

By the late afternoon to early evening, the storm is expected to move on, Maxwell said.

On Thursday and continuing into the weekend, skies will be relatively clear with cool temperatures with the next possibility for rain arriving as early as Sunday.