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Enjoy the blue skies while you can—we're in the calm before the storm. The biggest system of the season so far (and, boy, what a season it's been) is expected to hit Southern California on Friday.
According to Tom Fischer of the National Weather Service, two to four inches of rain should drop on the L.A. area from Friday afternoon into the evening. In the foothills and mountains areas, six to eight inches should drop over the same period.
The storm (a tropical system known as an atmospheric river) should keep temperatures relatively warm. By Saturday, the snow level will only reach 6500 feet.
The system is expected to bring serious winds, too. In the mountains, gusts of 70 m.p.h. are forecasted. The basins should see sustained gusts of 40 m.p.h. Fischer also told LAist that 10-foot waves are expected on Friday (cowabunga, dude).
And though the storm is relatively slow-moving, Fischer tells LAist that the rains should taper off by Friday night, and leave us with showers (if anything) by Saturday. Temperatures are expected to return to seasonally-normal mid-60s into early next week.