Monsoonal Storms Hit SoCal Early With Chance Of Dry Lightning And Fire

LOS ANGELES — Southern California is getting an unusually early peek at monsoon season this week as temperatures continue to run warmer across the inland areas, creating several chances for thunderstorms to develop over the mountains.

A meteorologist told the Los Angeles Times that SoCal is entering a weak monsoon flow — a pattern more typical of late summer — pulling in muggy air off the Gulf of California and pushing moisture toward high-elevation areas around Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

"We would usually expect a 'May gray' and 'June gloom' kind pattern first," Tom Fisher, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Oxnard office told the newspaper. "So this is a little more unusual."

L.A.-area forecasters see a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms over the San Gabriel Mountains through Saturday, which could spur wind gusts, lightning and hail at higher elevations. With little in the way of rain to accompany the storms, there may be fire hazards, too.

"The overall upper-level pattern is somewhat favorable for some mid-level moisture and instability to move into the area, but the precipitable water remains less than one inch," NWS Los Angeles wrote Tuesday. "The main threats with any thunderstorm development will be gusty outflow winds and dry lightning strikes with limited measurable rainfall."

Elsewhere in SoCal, forecasters see a chance for thunderstorms over the San Bernardino Mountains and the High Desert, spreading south into the Riverside County Mountains Thursday and Friday.

While thunder and lightning should stay confined to high elevations, inland areas are on track to run a few degrees above average through mid-week, before cooling off slightly Thursday and Friday.

Things will stay cooler closer to the coasts, with low clouds and fog returning each night and morning. The "May gray" has proven persistent around San Diego this week, apart from a brief clearing Tuesday afternoon.

Looking ahead in the forecast, climate outlooks released Tuesday favor above-average rainfall returning to conclude May, with temperatures slightly cooler or close to average for most in the Golden State.