It’s looking good for New Year’s Day on Colorado Boulevard. A forecast of a slight chance of rain earlier in the week has turned into mostly sunny skies, boding well for the Tournament of Roses’ streak of years since of 2006 with no rain.
In fact, it’s shaping up to be quite a nice morning for the Rose Parade, which runs from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday, with the Rose Bowl Game in the afternoon.
According to the National Weather Service, Monday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
Even if there is rain, it likely won’t be much. The next in a series of storms will impact Southern California, but the core of the storm will stay off the cost on its way to norther Baja, according to the Weather Service.
“Any area that receives rain will generally stay under 0.10 inches, with a local amount to 0.25 inches possible,” according to the National Weather Service.
And it’s unlikely it cause the kind of problems other parts of the region are seeing.
Parts of Los Angeles County experienced flooding this morning as a strong one-day rainstorm hit the area, creating dangerous conditions on roads and at beaches.
A flood advisory was in effect until 11 a.m. for a portion of southwest California, including central and southern Los Angeles County, and far eastern Ventura County, according to the National Weather Service.
Local law enforcement agencies reported some urban and small stream flooding in the advisory area. Some locations that were warned about possible flooding include Long Beach, Malibu, Griffith Park, Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles, Universal City, Burbank, Beverly Hills, North Hollywood, Culver City, Alhambra, Inglewood, Pasadena, Van Nuys, Venice, Santa Monica and Encino.
The NWS also issued a special weather statement for the areas of Santa Clarita, Newhall and San Fernando, where winds up to 50 mph were expected.
Meanwhile, a high surf warning was in effect until 10 p.m. Saturday for all Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast and Catalina Island.
So, you might pack an umbrella or poncho, just in case. But bottom line: You likely won’t need it in Pasadena. Fingers crossed.
Organizers don’t like to talk much about the rain, for fear of jinxing the giant annual spectacle, which from its beginnings was all about promoting the region’s sunny weather disposition and its flowers. That may be a good strategy.
In fact, over the course of its 134-year history, the event has had 124 sunny iterations and just 10 soggy ones. And it looks like the 135th year will follow that pattern.
The answer is part odds, part science, explained Daniel Swain, climate scientist at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment & Sustainability in a recent interview with the Southern California News Group.
January is actually at the peak of Southern California’s rainy season when temporary southward shifts in the Pacific storm track, driven by variations in the jet stream, create large rain storms, he said. But, that only happens “a relative handful of times” in any given winter.
In L.A. County, there is approximately a 10% to 15% chance of experiencing rainfall on any given day in January, he said. In comparison, it has only rained on approximately 8% of Rose Parades, according to information provided by the Tournament of Roses.
It doesn’t hurt, experts say, that the parade only takes up a morning fraction of a day when rain could happen before or after.
Get ready to smell the roses, instead of a rain-soaked pavement.
Staff writers Clara Harter and Ryan Carter, and City News Service, contributed to this article.
