Major Pacific Storm Diane has been declared and she will be a category four at the center of her dynamics, impacting on Tuesday. Some areas at the heart will have the potential for isolated tornado activity and gusty frontal zone winds. Blizzard and Flood alerts have been issued and officially Southern California Weather Force will be taking lead on further forecasts for Diane so find out your details by reading on and watching the video embedded in this article.
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A very strong front will come through on Tuesday. This front will be the most powerful front of this season thus far … dropping over an inch of rain in all areas in a short amount of time. These amounts will be dangerous and it will likely cause many mudslides.
It’ll likely start in Santa Barbara earlier in the period on Tuesday and shove through the day through the rest of the forecast area. If you’re in this watch zone, prepare now for any flooding precautions and check your surroundings if on a hill that could landslide.
An extremely powerful storm system will impact the region on Tuesday, starting in the morning for Ventura County and going through noon/evening into the rest of the forecast area.
This system will have maximum snow levels of 7,000 FT, however as the middle of the front passes these would drop through 6,000 FT so my thinking is that it’ll start off as rain in many mountain city locations and then end as snow.
A healthy 30-40 kt low level jet will solidify the gusty 40+ mph winds that will strike along the front … this, with heavy snowfall will bring blizzard conditions, meaning whiteout and the most dangerous to even be in …
Our blizzard warning comes with snow level/intensity/timing charts and these may change for the final product once issued. If stronger lift is present, thundersnow may form.
The amount of snowfall will vary from mountain range with a foot in VT … to 1-2 FT for the San Bernardino/Riverside Mountains … most likely 6-9″ for most Big Bear areas east lake and 15″ west lake to GVL … Wrightwood currently in the 7-10″ range and higher in upper elevations with Baldy at 12-14″ …
A powerful storm system will move through the region on Tuesday, bringing flood rains, strong winds, and hazardous conditions for the statement zone.
The area is already in the SCWF Flood Watch product, however this alert is to outline convective potential with the front. This front will have the backing low level shear and instability to create a scenario for isolated tornadoes, starting as waterspouts mainly and coming inland a bit … maybe even developing some inland.
Regardless, the statement area will need to be monitored for further updates on the isolated tornado potential through Tuesday. Activity will maximize over the LA/OC/SD forecast area.
Dangerous sea conditions with swells over 10 FT expected on all coastal regions Tuesday through Friday … with 17+ FT expected on the Western Santa Barbara County to San Luis Obispo County coastal areas. Thunderstorms within the front on Tuesday through Thursday in various storm systems will produce hazardous conditions with strong waterspout potential … along with gusty frontal zone winds in excess of 40-50 mph. Conditions will calm after Friday …
Two more systems after this, all back to back … one hitting Wednesday and the other on Thursday, each one colder than the previous before them so snow levels will drop, thunderstorm risks will go up, and rain amounts will elevated. The next systems will be named Eugene and Frances …