Storm Will Send Snow Levels Plunging

Another snowstorm will hit the mountains and high deserts of Southern California Tuesday evening and Wednesday, the National Weather Service warned Sunday.

The storm, from the Gulf of Alaska, will also bring a threat of showers late Monday night into Tuesday morning. Most areas are expected to see one-third to 1 inch of rain. 

The main impact, however, will be snow, the Weather Service said.

Snow could cause traffic problems on the Grapevine Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the Weather Service said in a special weather statement. Interstate 15 at Cajon Pass and also near the Nevada line might again be snow-covered, as might be Interstate 8 east of San Diego, the statement said.

Los Angeles County road crews planned to close a commuter short-cut across the Angeles National Forest in advance of the storm. Angeles Forest Highway and roads in the Big Tujunga Canyon area will be closed at 3 a.m. Tuesday, a spokesman said today.

The storm will be hit-and-miss, much like the storm last week that hit some mountain locations with more than two feet of snow and left others with mere dustings, said meteorologist Rich Thompson at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

Snow levels will start at 6,000 feet Tuesday afternoon, and then drop to 2,000 feet by Wednesday morning as cold reinforcing air comes in from the Aleutian islands, the Weather Service said.

Big Bear, Arrowhead and Wrightwood could get another two feet of snow, the San Diego office warned. Pine Valley and Julian might see 4-8 inches.

Coastal and valley locations can expect between a third of an inch, and one inch, of rain on Tuesday night and Wednesday, Weather Service forecasters said.