More Rain Is Headed To California On New Year’s Eve. Here’s What To Expect

More rain is expected to hit California, making for another wet holiday, weather forecasters say.

Across the state, people can expect to see rain the evening of New Year’s Eve and into New Year’s Day.

The upcoming rain event comes at the heels of Southern California’s wettest Christmas Eve-Christmas Day ever, with Santa Barbara Airport getting 5.91 inches, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Here’s What To Expect For Southern California

Stefanie Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Southern California can expect to see on-and-off light showers during the day on New Year’s Eve.

“Starting (Wednesday) night is when we could start to see some of the heavier showers,” Sullivan said. “The chance that it could hold off until after midnight, but it really looks like the heaviest rain will be kind of really more towards early Thursday morning.”

The rain will start earliest in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, then move into the Inland Empire and San Diego County later in the morning and afternoon, according to Sullivan.

"People heading to and participating in the annual parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day may want to wear waterproof shoes, a warm jacket and a plastic rain poncho, as AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures are forecast to be in the 50s F," AccuWeather wrote. "Temperatures will recover a bit in the afternoon for the football game, but it is bound to shower at least once or twice and could rain a lot more often than that."

Rain will start to wind down by late afternoon or early evening on New Year’s Day, according to Sullivan.

“Most of Friday should be pretty dry,” Sullivan said.

When asked if the rain totals could reach similar levels to the most recent rain event Christmas week, Sullivan said, “Nothing close to that.”

“For most of the coastal areas and valleys, it looks like anywhere from 1 to 2 inches, with the higher amounts kind of closer to LA County, and then the mountains anywhere from 1.5 to 3 inches,” Sullivan said.

In the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, Sullivan said rain levels are predicted to be closer to 5 inches, according to Sullivan. In the desert areas of Coachella Valley and San Diego County, there will be half an inch or less of rain.

There will be between half an inch and 1 inch of rain closer to the Mojave Desert, Sullivan said.

“No snow or anything like that is expected because the snow levels are going to be really high,” Sullivan said.

Here’s What To Expect For Northern California

Rain is also predicted to hit parts of Northern California.

Joe Merchant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the San Francisco Bay Area can start to expect rain Wednesday night.

“Unfortunately, it looks like for New Year's Eve, it's gonna be wet,” Merchant said.

While heavy rainfall is not likely, periods of steady rainfall are predicted for Wednesday evening through the overnight hours, according to Merchant.

“People can expect to see a cool and wet New Year's Eve, so they may want to either rethink or make sure they're prepared if their plans include being outside for a long time,” Merchant said.

Rain is expected to slow down by early Thursday morning, Merchant said.

It is predicted that San Francisco will see between half an inch and 1 inch of rain, while north of Sonoma will see about an inch of rain, Merchant said.

“So not really heavy rainfall, just unfortunately the timing will be when people are gonna wanna be outside,” Merchant said.