Juniper Hills, California

... A cold and vigorous storm system will affect southwestern
California today through early Wednesday...

A strong and cold upper low off the northern California
coast is forecast to drop southward today... tracking just west
of southwestern California later today and night. This system
will threaten the region with a variety of weather
hazards... including heavy showers... thunderstorms... gusty winds
and moderate to heavy snow accumulations with low snow levels.

Showers will develop north of Point Conception early this
morning... then spread into Ventura and Los Angeles counties
by this afternoon. Showers will begin to decrease from northwest
to southeast across the region tonight. Scattered showers will
linger into early Wednesday across Los Angeles and Ventura
counties.

While moisture was still fairly limited with this system... it is
expected to tap into some Pacific moisture as it moves toward the
region later today and tonight. Cold air aloft associated with the
approaching upper low will cause increasing instability through the
atmosphere this afternoon into tonight... leading to a chance of
thunderstorms... some of which could produce small hail... very heavy
downpours and gusty winds. It is not out of the question that some
hail could approach severe limits... and some waterspouts in the
coastal waters could come ashore as weak tornados.

Since the precipitation will be showery in nature... rainfall totals
through early Wednesday will be highly variable... but will average
one third of an inch to one inch across the area... with local totals
over 2 inches possible in areas that receive thunderstorms. It
appears that the highest rainfall totals will occur across Los
Angeles County... especially across eastern sections... including the
station and Morris burn areas. These areas will also have the best
chance of receiving thunderstorms with high intensity rainfall.
A Flash Flood Watch has been posted for the recent burn areas
of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. Please refer to
(laxffalox) for additional information.

Due to the cold nature of this storm... snow will likely fall at very
low elevations across the region... impacting travel on major routes
into and through the mountains such as Interstate 5 through the
Grapevine and possibly portions of the 14 freeway. Snow levels are
expected to start out between 4000 and 5000 feet today... then will
lower to between 3000 and 4000 feet tonight. There is a chance
that snow levels could lower to 2500 feet late tonight... which
could bring accumulating snows into the foothills above the
Antelope Valley... the Cuyama Valley... and the interior valleys of
San Luis Obispo County.

In the mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties... snow
accumulations of 6 to 12 inches are expected... with local totals as
high as 16 inches in the san Gabriels. In the mountains of San Luis
Obispo and Santa Barbara counties... 3 to 6 inches of snow are
expected. Please refer to (laxwswlox) for more details.

Residents of southwest California are urged to stay tuned to the
latest National Weather Service statements and possible watches and
warnings as this weather situation continues to develop.


Bruno/asr