SOUTHLAND TARGETED FOR THREE DAYS OF RAIN.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer

The fierce winter storm that hit the Southland on Monday could dump up to 5 inches of rain on the San Fernando Valley before moving out of the area Wednesday, forecasters said.

Waves up to seven feet high could pound the coast and the threat of thunderstorms has prompted flash-flood warnings through 6 p.m. today. Wind advisories and warnings also are in effect, with gusts up to 50 mph seen in the valleys and up to 70 mph in the mountains.

Highs will remain around 60 degrees, with lows in the low 50s.

The storm is a powerful combination of a low-pressure system moving south from the Gulf of Alaska and a moisture plume that migrated across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii, said Stuart Seto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

``They're two separate things working together - that's what's intensifying the rainfall amounts. This is a big storm.''

Less than a half-inch of rain had fallen on the Los Angeles area by late afternoon Monday, but that should turn into a deluge today, National Weather Service meteorologist Bruce Rockwell said.

``The numbers aren't that impressive now, but they will be,'' he said.

Despite stormy conditions in Southern California and winter weather that has pelted the Midwest and East Coast and disrupted holiday travel, no major flight delays were reported Monday at Los Angeles International Airport.

The storm is expected to wane by Thursday, with scattered showers continuing through Sunday, Seto said.

The forecast doesn't trouble officials at the Tournament of Roses parade, which has never been rained out in its 116-year history. Rain has fallen on the parade only nine times, most recently in 1955.

``People always stay for the parade,'' spokeswoman Vanessa Flores said. ``Rain never stopped anyone.''

Ten inches of precipitation is forecast for the local mountains, and snow levels will be at 6,500 feet today, which is good news for local skiers, said Brad Farmer, a spokesman for the Bear Mountain and Snow Summit ski resorts in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Temperatures were plummeting into the 20s Monday in Big Bear, where ski resorts have been furiously making snow to add to their 18- to 36-inch bases, Farmer said.

``If the storm does what it's supposed to do, it will bring us over a foot of fresh snow,'' he said. ``It will make for some nice powder.''

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

A pedestrian shields herself against the rain on a Canoga Avenue sidewalk Monday in Woodland Hills.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer