One of the biggest stretches of West Coast winter storms this season is kicking off today with waves of rain, wind and mountain snow continuing through the middle of the work week.

The WeatherRadar already shows heavy rain moving into California, soaking Los Angeles and the Bay area today. Heavy snow is falling over the Sierras.

This system continues to spread inland, spreading snow across the length of the Sierra and into the Great Basin. Heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms soaks much of the lower elevations of California.

In addition to the headaches of heavy rain triggering local flooding and possible mudslides in recent burn areas, the WindRadar shows high winds rolling in with the storm system. Gusts in excess of 30 mph will be common across southern and central California, with even higher 50-plus gusts across mountain passes and higher elevations.

This is just the first of several waves of western storms. The WeatherRadar shows rounds of heavy rain and mountain snow rolling through on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Feet of snow are expected along the length of the Sierra. Stay tuned and be prepared.