Rain, thunder, lightning?
In what could potentially be the last storm of the season, rain and thunderstorms will inundate SoCal today. Light rain has been falling in the region since last night (as suggested in my previous post). Rain intensity should pick up as the main bands approach from the northwest; see this radar image from 7am:
Reds and oranges in this image indicate very high rain rates, possibly associated with some embedded thunderstorms. Satellite data also shows numerous lightning strikes near Santa Barbara with the larger band of rain. Model simulations indicate “high” (for SoCal) CAPE values suggesting that the convective activity will continue right on into our area. These storms, and strong winds, will sweep through OC sometime around noon-2pm today, tapering off tonight.
-Mike
