The sun rises over the main grandstands before the start of the 134th Rose Parade in Pasadena on Monday, January 2, 2023. (Photo by Trevor Stamp)
It's looking good for New Year's Day on Colorado Boulevard. A forecast for light rain earlier in the week turned into mostly sunny skies, which bodes well for the Tournament of Roses since 2006 without rain.
In fact, it's shaping up to be a very beautiful morning for the Rose Parade, which runs from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday, with the Rose Bowl game in the afternoon.
According to the National Weather Service, Monday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 64.
- Read more Rose Parade coverage here
Even if there is rain, it probably won't be much. The next in a series of storms will impact Southern California, but the core of the storm will stay well beyond the cost on its way to northern Baja, according to the weather service.
“Any area receiving rain will generally remain less than 0.10 inches, with rainfall as high as 0.25 inches possible,” according to the National Weather Service.
It is unlikely to cause the kind of problems seen in other parts of the region.
Parts of Los Angeles County experienced flooding this morning, as a powerful day-long rainstorm hit the area, creating dangerous conditions on roads and beaches.
A flood warning was in effect until 11 a.m. for part of southwestern California, including central and southern Los Angeles County, and Ventura County in the far east, according to the National Weather Service.
Local law enforcement agencies reported some flooding in urban and small areas in the advisory area. Some locations that have been warned of potential flooding include Long Beach, Malibu, Griffith Park, Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles, Universal City, Burbank, Beverly Hills, North Hollywood, Culver City, Alhambra, Inglewood, Pasadena, Van Nuys, Venice, Santa Monica. And Encino.
The weather service also issued a special weather statement for the Santa Clarita, Newhall and San Fernando areas, where winds are expected to reach 50 mph.
Meanwhile, a high surf advisory was in effect until 10pm Saturday for all Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast and Catalina Island.
So, you can pack an umbrella or a coat with you, just in case. But bottom line: You probably won't need it in Pasadena. Interlocking fingers.
Organizers don't like to talk much about rain, for fear of jinxing this giant annual spectacle, which from its beginnings has been about promoting the region's sunny weather and flowers. This may be a good strategy.
In fact, over its 134-year history, the event has had 124 sun and sunshine iterations and only 10 iterations. It seems that the year 135 will follow this pattern.
The answer is part probability, part science, explained Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA's Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, in a recent interview with the Southern California News Group.
January is actually the peak of the rainy season in Southern California when temporary southward shifts in the Pacific storm track, driven by changes in the jet stream, produce large rainstorms, he said. But this only happens “a relatively small number of times” in any given winter.
In Los Angeles County, there's about a 10% to 15% chance of rain on any given day in January, he said. By comparison, only about 8% of the Rose Parades received rain, according to information provided by the Tournament of Roses.
It doesn't hurt that the display only takes up a small portion of the morning of the day when rain could fall before or after it, experts say.
Get ready to smell the roses, rather than the rain-soaked sidewalk.
Writers Clara Harter and Ryan Carter and City News Service contributed to this article.
