Longest summer ever? Global warming at work?

However you describe that long stretch of warm weather that seemed to start in spring, it might finally be over. Forecasters say rain is possible today through the weekend. Some parts of Los Angeles already got some thunder, lightning and showers overnight. And (slightly) lower temperatures (finally!) are coming.

This after record heat struck Southern California just last week.

The National Weather Service says an upper-level low-pressure system is bringing a chance of showers and thunderstorms to the area through Friday.

“Storms are moving very rapidly, around 30 miles per hour, over the area, producing heavy but brief downpours,” the service stated last night. Hail and lightning were possible.

Alex Sosnowski of private forecaster AccuWeather says that “a few tenths of an inch or less will fall along the coast of Southern California, but 1 to 2 inches are likely in the coastal ranges and the southern Sierra Nevada.”

“There will be some exceptions to the rainfall in coastal Southern California, and there could be enough in a few communities to cause flash flooding,” AccuWeather Western weather expert Ken Clark said.

Another low-pressure system Sunday will bring down temperatures, too, federal forecasters say. AccuWeather says there's a “slim” chance of showers over the weekend, too.

Until then, it will be “warm and muggy” through Friday with a drop in temps by only a few degrees expected, the NWS says. This despite the chance of showers. AccuWeather says high temps through Sunday should be in the normal range, which is to say about 80 degrees in the L.A. basin.

Unfortunately, summerlike weather could return next week.

A “warming trend” will “really kick in Monday and Tuesday,” the weather service says, “with a strong ridge pushing in from the west.”

Expect high temps in the 90s for area valleys, the NWS says. Yeah. Sorry.

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