Storm

Here comes the rain. The National Weather Service says rain is expected to move into Southern California on Friday night and make for wet conditions through the weekend. The "relatively weak" storm will move in Friday and gain momentum Saturday morning, said meteorologist Rich Thompson of the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. "It's not a tremendous amount of rainfall," Thompson said, estimating 1 to three fourths of an inch will fall in the central areas and about 1 inch in the mountains.

The weekend storm is gone and temperatures will warm up as the week progresses, the National Weather Service said Monday. Residents can expect rain and snow to stop if it hasn't already, and skies should be clear until at least Friday, said NWS weather specialist Stuart Seto. Monday will see highs of 60 downtown; temperatures are expected to spike to 68 on Tuesday and remain in the upper 60s the rest of the week. In the tri-city region, daytime highs are expected to hit the mid-70s by midweek, according to the weather service.

Local mountains could see snow levels drop to 3,500 feet as a new colder storm front moves in today. Rainfall totals should average approximately 1 inch, but could be higher in some areas. This new weather system is not expected to be as strong as the weekend storm that the pummeled the area, causing street flooding and toppling trees, according to the National Weather Service. Still, up to 8 inches of snow could fall on local mountains, with the potential for more when a second storm front moves in late Thursday, according to the weather agency.

Possibly damaging winds were expected to whip Southern California early Thursday with gusts of up to 35 mph as the sun returns to Los Angeles. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the morning and early afternoon. High temperatures are expected to be in the 60s and 70s. Temperatures Thursday night in Los Angeles are expected to fall to the 40s and 50s. Continue reading > > -- Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times

Our family returned this week from the Bahamas. It was a trip that was a long time in coming. When we first saved up for it, then booked it, my daughter ended up in the hospital. We had to cancel, much to the disappointment of my other children. So finally everyone was healthy and off we went. We were very thankful to be going. I felt so appreciative to God for this trip, knowing he truly helped us pull it off. The first thing we did when we arrived was put on our swim suits, run to the beach, and dash into the bathtub-temperature water yelling and giggling, “The Bahamas!

Did you survive the storm last week? I'm not talking about a meteorological event, but a saccharine-sweet cultural tempest that just swept through not only our community, but the nation. I'm talking about Girl Scout cookie time. Though the eye of the storm has passed, you can still find them in front of Pavilions and Virgil's Hardware, Ralph's and CVS. After that frenzied first week cookies are released, things have settled down to a Tagalong-induced self-loathing lull. Thankfully, we only have a few spare boxes of Thin Mints left in our house.

As the bear that some are dubbing "Meatball" succumbs to his tranquilizer darts behind an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Montrose Avenue, residents in this quiet neighborhood are still wrapping their heads around the spectacle. Faye Guymon, who has lived on nearby Briggs Avenue next to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church since 1968, said she has never seen more than a coyote on her street "I never saw such a thing," she said. "I thought maybe it was an accident. I jumped up and my girlfriend called me. She says, 'Stay in the house.'" Tom Gossard, who also lives on Briggs Avenue and teaches at R.D. White Elementary School, had just returned from getting coffee at 6 a.m. when he spotted the huge black bear.

LA CRESCENTA — A rainstorm Monday caused no mudflows or flood problems in communities surrounding the burned hillsides here, but public safety officials have turned their attention to Thursday, when another storm is expected to present its own set of challenges. Although rain counts yielded more than an inch of water, including 1.4 inches in the Briggs Terrace neighborhood, those totals presented little safety threats because they came during a 12-hour period, said Bob Gregg, a local water observer for the Los Angeles County Flood Control District “It fell fairly steadily over a long period of time,” Gregg said.

A man who was apparently homeless was found stabbed to death Saturday evening in a San Fernando Valley storm drainage channel, police said Sunday. The man, a Latino believed to be between 25 and 30 years old, had been stabbed in the chest, according to Los Angeles Police Sgt. Trina Bluff of the Van Nuys station. The man was found south of Victory Boulevard, near Ethel Avenue, on the eastern side of the Tujunga Wash, which, in the Valley, is essentially a large concrete-lined storm drainage channel that runs from Hansen Dam south to Studio City, where it joins the Los Angeles River.

The bulk of the slow-moving storm churning its way across the Southland should pass the local area by this afternoon, weather forecasters say. The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the Angeles National Forest through 8 p.m. as those living in the foothills brace for what could be periods of heavy rain within the Station fire burn area. Rain totals could reach up to 2 inches in some mountain areas, with the snow level dropping to between 5,500 and 6,500 feet through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Pasadena Poly boys' volleyball Coach Mark Mina admitted his team probably showed up at Flintridge Prep expecting a Prep League sweep on Tuesday afternoon. The Panthers almost got one. Performed on them, that is, by a Rebels squad that became ever more fired up with wins in the first two games and taking the third down to the wire. Michael Saeta simply wouldn't allow Poly to go down, however, igniting a late rally to win the third game before going on to finish with 51 kills in his team's 21-25, 25-27, 25-20, 25-22, 15-13 win that lifted the Panthers into a tie for first place with Chadwick with two matches left in the season.

As the bear that some are dubbing "Meatball" succumbs to his tranquilizer darts behind an apartment complex in the 2400 block of Montrose Avenue, residents in this quiet neighborhood are still wrapping their heads around the spectacle. Faye Guymon, who has lived on nearby Briggs Avenue next to Holy Redeemer Catholic Church since 1968, said she has never seen more than a coyote on her street "I never saw such a thing," she said. "I thought maybe it was an accident. I jumped up and my girlfriend called me. She says, 'Stay in the house.'" Tom Gossard, who also lives on Briggs Avenue and teaches at R.D. White Elementary School, had just returned from getting coffee at 6 a.m. when he spotted the huge black bear.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Even though the Crescenta Valley High baseball team had led Sherman Oaks Notre Dame since the first inning of Tuesday night's Babe Herman Tournament semifinal at Stengel Field, the Falcons were still lacking a big hit with runners on base to break the game open through the first three frames. Michael Russo changed all that with a bases-loaded line-drive off the Knights first baseman's glove that scored two runs and sparked a four-run third inning. The floodgates were then opened for a five-run fourth and ultimately a lopsided 12-4 win for Crescenta Valley, which went 3-0 to win the National Division and will meet American Division winner Chatsworth in the tournament championship at 7 p.m. tonight.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - After outlasting Crespi High in a five-game Mission League thriller on Tuesday night, the St. Francis volleyball team looked as if it might be in for another long night when the opening game of its league tilt with visiting Alemany proved to be difficult to put away. As it turned out, the hardest part was behind the Golden Knights once they withstood the Warriors' rally down the stretch of the first game. St. Francis closed the match out with authority, only allowing Alemany to put together a run of more than two points once over the rest of its 25-20, 25-9, 25-15 sweep.

The weekend storm is gone and temperatures will warm up as the week progresses, the National Weather Service said Monday. Residents can expect rain and snow to stop if it hasn't already, and skies should be clear until at least Friday, said NWS weather specialist Stuart Seto. Monday will see highs of 60 downtown; temperatures are expected to spike to 68 on Tuesday and remain in the upper 60s the rest of the week. In the tri-city region, daytime highs are expected to hit the mid-70s by midweek, according to the weather service.

Did you survive the storm last week? I'm not talking about a meteorological event, but a saccharine-sweet cultural tempest that just swept through not only our community, but the nation. I'm talking about Girl Scout cookie time. Though the eye of the storm has passed, you can still find them in front of Pavilions and Virgil's Hardware, Ralph's and CVS. After that frenzied first week cookies are released, things have settled down to a Tagalong-induced self-loathing lull. Thankfully, we only have a few spare boxes of Thin Mints left in our house.

The potential impacts of what one meteorologist called "the strongest storm  of the season" are becoming clearer as rain and snow approach Friday and Southland residents begin taking precautionary measures against the bad weather. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch for Southern California, which officials say will likely turn into a warning by the end of Friday. That means winter driving conditions this weekend with some snow and ice on the roads.

A cold weather storm moving through L.A. could drop snow as low as 2,000 feet, possibly dusting the Santa Clarita foothills, according to the National Weather Service. Thunderstorms may also produce hail in the east San Fernando Valley hills as the fast-moving storm system rolls through the region with gusty winds and rain showers for most of the day. By Tuesday morning, the storm will have moved on, leaving brisk and sunny conditions before another weather system moves in on Wednesday, bringing with it a 20 percent chance of rain, according the weather service.

Possibly damaging winds were expected to whip Southern California early Thursday with gusts of up to 35 mph as the sun returns to Los Angeles. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the morning and early afternoon. High temperatures are expected to be in the 60s and 70s. Temperatures Thursday night in Los Angeles are expected to fall to the 40s and 50s. Continue reading > > -- Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times

A storm coming off the Pacific Ocean won't pack quite the punch that had been expected, forecasters said. The low-pressure system will likely "just graze the area as it slides down the coast," according to the National Weather Service, producing less rain in the inland areas than what had been forecast earlier. The storm could still produce wind gusts of up to 60 mph in mountain areas, prompting winter weather advisories for the mountainous passes in north San Fernando Valley.