Wet December continues with powerful NYE-Eve storm

So far this December downtown Los Angeles has picked up over 4" of rain... and is about to get a bunch more before the year finally says goodbye. A powerful upper low that has been spinning to our south has finally started to move into the area bringing with it strong showers, gusty winds and even the chance of a thunderstorm! Here's the radar image showing the storm barreling toward LA:

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The current official precipitation (QPF) forecasts have the Los Angeles/OC area picking up on the order of 1/2" or so from this storm. LA doesn't measure its rainfall by calendar year, but if it did, 2016 would be only about 3" below normal. Far and away this has been our wettest stretch since late 2010 and any additional rain today and tomorrow will help.

A convective atmosphere adds to the intrigue: thunderstorms are firing in the coastal waters and should push onshore, bringing possible lightning, gusty winds, and potentially high local rain rates. Saturated ground will increase the landslide chances. This round of rain should clear out by the afternoon, but another storm tomorrow will reinforce the totals from today!

Drive safe!