Your SoCal Weather Report For Monday, Dec. 19: LA Under Flood Watch For The Next Few Days

We're in the midst of the first storm system of the week and the National Weather Service is alerting Southern California to stay ready as flood watches have been issued across the region.

The average temperature for the beaches will reach 65 degrees — that's from Santa Monica to Huntington Beach. Inland coastal valleys will see highs in the upper 60s — in downtown Los Angeles, expect a high of 67 degrees, 66 degrees in Anaheim.

The San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys will see similar average temperatures — highs up to 65 degrees. Whereas in Santa Clarita and Antelope, expect an average of 62 degrees.

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Subscribe

Toward the Inland Empire, temperatures will be similar to the valleys — 65 degrees in San Bernardino, 63 degrees in Moreno Valley.

About the storm

The National Weather Service is looking ahead to tomorrow, when the second, stronger storm will bring several hours of steady, moderate rain and gusty winds through Thursday, with the possibility of thunderstorms and flooding.

Forecasters issued a flood watch for all areas of the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo starting at 10 p.m. today and continuing for the next couple of days.

Looking ahead to Friday and Saturday, there'll be gusty northwest winds followed by a generally quiet Christmas and first half of the holiday week.

The first system will bring light to moderate showers late this afternoon through Tuesday with up to an inch of rain.

"We'll also see rain off and on at least through Thursday and potential for periods of moderate to heavy rainfall across the region, especially in the Wednesday to Thursday time frame when we have a slight chance of thunderstorms across the area," meteorologist Robbie Munroe said.

That second storm will bring 2 to 5 inches of rainfall. There's also a chance of gusty winds Wednesday through Thursday, mainly in the mountains.

Snow fall will come Wednesday through Thursday and remain above 7,000 feet.

This day in history

On this day in 1978, a waterspout turned into a tornado in Oceanside.

Things to do

We are T-minus 6 days from Christmas! If you haven't finished your shopping yet, check out our holiday gift guide. If you're looking to get the humbug in your life into the holiday spirit — what better way is there than to break out in Christmas carols?

• The Aimee Mann & Ted Leo Christmas Show!: The holidays kick into fifth gear as singer-songwriters Aimee Mann and Ted Leo return for several of their Christmas shows this week (Dec. 18 - 21). Tuesday's show is your best bet for scoring tickets. Be ready for original songs and holiday classics with a little variety, comedy and special guests.

Check out our full list of things to do this week.