Beneficial autumn storm: Rainmaker sweeps into Southwest

A big autumn storm is sweeping across California and will bring much-needed rain to the Southwest later tonight and Tuesday. Some local mudslides and flash flooding are possible.

The WeatherRadar shows the system's cold front moving ashore today, sweeping a line of rain across central and southern California, with a few embedded thunderstorms. The Sierras will receive snow at the highest elevations, while Los Angeles and San Diego will see heavy rain after sunset and through early Tuesday.

The system will move into the Southwest tonight and early Tuesday, spreading heavy rain and thunderstorms into Las Vegas and Phoenix. This autumn rain follows a major atmospheric river that brought 1.65 inches to Los Angeles on Saturday. This was a daily record. Nearly a foot of rain was recorded over the mountains of southern California from Friday to Sunday.

The heavy rain could trigger mudslides in areas recently burned by wildfires and produce localized flash flooding in desert lowlands. Use the WeatherRadar to watch the system move eastward across the Southwest on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The heavy rain will be beneficial, with long-term drought occurring across southern California, the Southwest, the south of the Great Basin, and the Rockies.