Easter weekend storm hits Southern California with rain and mountain snow

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Easter weekend storm has slammed into Southern California, bringing more rain and mountain snow to a region already drenched by winter weather.

The slow-moving storm was expected to unleash 1 to 3 inches (2.54 to 7.62 centimeters) of rain, as well as up to 2 feet (0.61 meters) of snow in the mountains above 6,000 feet (1,828.80 meters) of elevation, by Monday.

While the National Weather Service’s office in Oxnard had not had any reports of major flooding or mudslides by midday Saturday, forecasters issued a flood watch through Sunday afternoon in parts of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Ryan Kittell, a weather service meteorologist, said the weekend’s storm is typical for March but was not an atmospheric river like many of the others that have pounded California in recent winters.

The storm left the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday and “just marched right down the California coast” overnight, bringing most of the rainfall to the Los Angeles area, Kittell said.

The storm then parked itself over the region, where it is expected to stay until Sunday night or into Monday. Showers and possible thunderstorms, with the potential for damaging winds and a tornado, are forecast for that time period.