This annoys me. We're on stormwatch here in Los Angeles and at the moment, it doesn't look like that big a storm. But you wouldn't know that from the L.A. Times. Here's the lead paragraph from an article they put up at 9:06 AM…
A significant rainstorm is expected to barrel into Southern California late today, dumping up to 3 inches of rain over two days and prompting the National Weather Service to issue flash-flood warnings.
And then later on in the article, it says…
The rains, which could range from 1 to 3 inches from downtown L.A. to the mountains, are expected to bring a considerable snowpack — with up to a foot of snow at elevations above 7,000 feet.
At least an inch of rain in downtown Los Angeles? Up to three inches? That's what they're suggesting but that's not what the National Weather Service — the article's only source for forecasts — is actually saying. This is from the 5:30 AM Special Weather Statement from the NWS, which as of this moment is still their official forecast…
General rainfall amounts are expected to range between one half and one inch across coastal and valley locations…with locally higher amounts possible across Los Angeles County and areas near heavier showers or thunderstorms. Most foothill and mountain areas can expect between one and three inches of rain…with highest amounts expected on the south facing slopes of the San Gabriel range.
1-3 inches of rain in the mountains is not uncommon from a storm that drops a third of that in the L.A. basin. Flash-flood warnings in mountainous areas that have recently burned are also pretty standard even with a weak storm. It looks to me like the forecast is really for a half-inch to an inch across most of L.A. and 1-3 inches in the surrounding mountains, especially the San Gabriel mountains, where the topography doesn't have a lot to do with what we commonly think of as Los Angeles. It could be seventy degrees where I am and snowing on those hilltops.
But the point is that there's a big difference between a half-inch to an inch of rain in the flatlands and 1-3 inches. This storm may do some damage and it may even be bigger than the National Weather Service is predicting. But their current forecast is being misrepresented here. I wish people wouldn't do that.