Southern California is about to get a break from the rain. How long will it last?
It’s finally time to put away those rain boots – at least for a while.
After a good start to the new year, persistent drizzle in Southern California is expected to wrap up late Tuesday, ushering in a period of dry conditions, warm temperatures and some Santa Ana wind through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
“At the end of the month, there may be another chance for rain, but right now – at least for the next couple of weeks – it should be dry,” said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
It’s not clear yet how strong Santa Ana’s winds could be, but Thompson said there is a risk of downed trees given the saturated soil from weeks of rain. But that also means the risk of fire weather, which is often accompanied by winds, will be lower, he said.
Southern California had a historic start to the water year, which began on Oct. 1, with storms drenching the region each month and back-to-back systems rolling over mountains and mountains during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
But the short-term forecast after Tuesday’s rain will be significantly different.
Forecasters estimate that temperatures could reach the high 60s on the beaches and reach the 70s further inland. At night, temperatures are expected to stay low, entering the 40s.
Although the region receives Santa Ana winds in early January again, the area is not as dry and prone to rapid fires as it was last January 7, when many flames exploded into unprecedented storms.
The last rainy days of 2025 helped bring California almost entirely out of drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. And that’s before the wettest months of the year, traditionally January and February.
As of Oct. 1, the city of Los Angeles received 14.11 inches of rain, about 9.81 inches above normal for the period. On average, the city of Los Angeles sees about 14.25 inches of rain throughout the season, according to the weather service.
“Those types of trends go to all climates here in Southern California,” Thompson said. “If you look at Burbank, Oxnard, Camarillo, Santa Barbara, it’s the same story. We’re above normal for this time of year.”
The latest storm dumped 1.16 inches of rain on downtown Los Angeles as of Monday morning, while Beverly Hills and Bel-Air received 1.28 and 1.27 inches, respectively.
An advisory for swimmers to avoid the water at LA County beaches has been extended Monday through 8 a.m. Thursday due to concerns about high levels of bacteria due to storm runoff.
Santa Barbara County was hit hardest, with 5.19 inches of rain falling at Refugio Pass and 5.04 inches falling on the Gaviota coast.
In San Diego County, Carlsbad received 1.49 inches of rain in the two-day period that ended at 5 a.m. Monday. The mountains saw more rain, with just over 3 inches falling in Palomar and 2.67 inches falling in Birch Hill.
The rain caused several road closures over the weekend, including a 3.6-mile stretch of Topanga Canyon Boulevard between Pacific Coast Highway and Grand View Drive and State Route 33 between Fairview Road and Lockwood Valley Road in the Los Padres National Forest. The California Department of Transportation has closed all lanes along State Route 2 from 3.3 miles east of Newcomb’s Ranch to State Route 138 in the Angeles National Forest.
The weekend’s flooding sent mud and debris flowing through the streets of Wrightwood, a community in the San Gabriel Mountains that was hit by mud during another devastating storm on Christmas Eve.
In Santa Barbara County, crews reopened all lanes of the 101 Freeway Sunday afternoon after heavy rain caused a series of mudslides, sending dirt and water onto the freeway. Road repairs are expected to continue for several weeks, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Times staff writer Kailyn Brown contributed to this report
