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A cold Pacific storm blasted Southern California on Friday with winter-like temperatures, high winds, hail and what appeared to be the lowest-elevation snow so far this year, posing a risk for drivers on several mountain roads.

There was a chance for snow at elevations as low as 2,000 feet in the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego county mountains — the lowest freezing point seen this year, said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

“For this winter season, this definitely is the coldest,” Thompson said. It is not a particularly moist system, however, which means snow totals — at least in Southern California — are expected to remain in the inches, with only a dusting expected at the lowest elevations.

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Forecasters on Friday confirmed there had been snow flurries in Lancaster at 2,300 feet in elevation, as well as at about 3,000 feet in Warner Springs in San Diego County, with the chance for more snow through at least 11 p.m.

“It’s not going to be a ton, but even a little bit on those mountain pass roads — [Highway] 14, the Grapevine — just a little bit of snow can cause issues for people,” Thompson said.

Heavy snow and high winds on Friday night prompted the California Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol to temporarily halt traffic through the Grapevine, a stretch of the 5 Freeway between Bakersfield and Santa Clarita. The roadway was reopened with CHP escorting traffic as of 10:35 p.m., according to CalTrans.

Officials expected highs to remain below 60 across much of the region, with records set at several locations.

“This is a cold storm for Southern California regardless of the time of year, but especially for early April,” said Jon Suk, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego.

But warmth is on the horizon, with temperatures expected to reach the mid- to upper 70s by Tuesday.

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Here’s what you need to know:

What is the schedule?

The storm made its way south across California on Friday after hitting northern parts of the state with rain, low-elevation snow, and some hail Thursday.

Temperatures began to fall statewide, including across the Southland on Thursday, but Friday was expected to be even colder, said Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

Where can you expect to see storm effects?

Pretty much all of California has seen cold, wet, unsettled weather from this storm — from snow in the mountains to dangerous surf along the coast.

In the Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino County mountains — including across the 5 Freeway and Highway 14 corridors — a winter weather advisory is in effect until late Friday.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the warning said.

Snow started to fall late Thursday in some areas across the Sierra Nevada, while flurries and minor accumulation picked up Friday in some parts of the L.A. and San Bernardino County mountains.

Reports Friday afternoon showed 2 inches of snow in Lake Arrowhead, an inch in Crestline and 4 inches at Palomar Mountain. Snow fell but did not stick around 2,500 feet above sea level, including in Palmdale, Lancaster and the Antelope Valley, according to the weather service. But above 3,000 feet, the snow was sticking.

Transportation officials sent out alerts that chains would be required for most Southern California mountain roads Friday.

Snow was expected to continue Friday night across the Sierra Nevada, with up to a foot of snow and 60-mph winds expected at elevations above 3,000 feet, according to the Weather Service.

What’s coming?

The storm’s most notable feature remains its cold, Wofford said, which is driving that low-elevation snow.

“Max temps today will end up only in the mid to upper 50s, or 10 to 20 degrees [below] normal,” the National Weather Service’s Friday update said. “Today’s max temps would be below normal even if it were January.”

Above 5,000 feet, snowfall totals are expected to be between 3 and 10 inches.

Up to a foot of snow is possible on the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains’ highest peaks, with 2 to 4 inches of snow possible from 4,000 to 5,000 feet in elevation and snow showers likely from 3,000 to 3,500 feet — enough to accumulate along the Cajon Pass.

Meteorologists said snowfall would taper off overnight Friday, but there was a chance of additional snow showers around the Grapevine.

Rain totals weren’t expected to be too high, with about a half-inch predicted for most of L.A. County and an inch expected in the foothills and mountains.

From the Central Coast down to San Diego, there’s also a concern for high surf, with warnings of 8- to 16-foot waves and dangerous rip currents. This will remain an issue through Saturday.

Officials are continuing to monitor a Newport Beach bluff that partially collapsed in a landslide early Thursday, forcing the evacuation of three homes; as well as major road damage on Highway 1 in Big Sur from a different slide last weekend, with concerns that further rain could exacerbate the situation. In the Hollywood Hills, a hillside collapsed on top of and into a home, causing significant damage.

Could this storm be record breaking?

Cold temperatures on Friday set some daily records, weather officials said.

Temperatures throughout Friday ranged from 7 to 20 degrees below normal, said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Anaheim, Big Bear, Palomar Mountain, Vista and Idyllwild all broke records for the lowest maximum temperature recorded on April 5.

The current historic record for the coldest April 5 in downtown L.A. is 55 degrees — but Friday’s high was 59, unusually brisk but only the seventh-coldest April 5 recorded by the National Weather Service.

At Los Angeles International Airport, Friday saw a high of 58, the coldest April 5 on record, just below the previous record of 59 degrees.

Palmdale also set a record for the coldest April 5: The city saw a high of 51 degrees, whereas the previous record was 53 degrees.

In the mountains, Big Bear set one record. Its coldest April 5 on record previously topped out at 35 degrees, and Friday only got as warm as 29 degrees. It also could hit a record low temperature for Friday or Saturday, if temperatures fall below 16 degrees, as forecast.

“It’s going to be close,” Wofford said.

As for rainfall, Wofford said it’s unlikely the region will hit any records, despite being close to the wettest two-year period in history. Downtown L.A. is less than two inches away from hitting that record — and could do so anytime before the end of September — but this storm isn’t expected to push the total over the edge.

The wettest back-to-back water years on record occurred in the late 1800s and saw 54.1 combined inches of rain. Currently, downtown L.A. is at 52.46 inches since Oct. 1, 2022. (Water years run October through September.)

“It’s not likely we’ll do it with this storm, but it’s not impossible,” Wofford said.

How long will it last?

Forecasts show this storm should clear out by Saturday, with some dry and warmer weather on the way.

“It’s a quick-hitter so we don’t see the impact over the weekend,” said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. “In fact, the snow will taper off Friday night ... and we warm up pretty quick.”

He said by Saturday afternoon, much of Southern California’s coasts and valleys will be back to temperatures in the mid-60s — only slightly below average for this time of year.

“We are going to pick up a little temperature Saturday and warming by 4 to 10 degrees regionwide,” said Schoenfeld, with similar temperatures on Sunday. “After that, we’re going to head into a pretty good warming trend.”

That trend is expected to continue during the week, with temperatures Wednesday and Thursday forecast into the 80s, with clear and sunny skies.

Ken Kahan makes a living building homes.

A specialty? Luxury apartment complexes in Los Angeles neighborhoods such as Palms and Silver Lake filled with mostly market rate units, but with a handful of income-restricted affordable ones as well.

It can be a good business, but lately less so.

“We have pulled back,” said Kahan, the president of California Landmark Group. “The metrics don’t work.”

Across California and the nation, developers moved to start fewer homes in 2023, a decline some experts say could eventually send home prices and rents even higher as supply shortages worsen.

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Developers cite several reasons for delaying new projects. There’s high labor and material costs, as well as new local regulations that together make it harder to turn a profit.

Perhaps the biggest factor — and one hitting across the country — is the high cost of borrowing. Rising interest rates not only make it more expensive for Americans to buy a home, but they add additional costs for developers who must shell out more money to build and manage their projects.

As a result, fewer projects make financial sense to build and fewer homes are built.

“More than anything it is debt costs,” said Ryan Patap, an analyst for real estate research firm CoStar.

In all, preliminary data from the US. Census Bureau show building permits for new homes nationwide fell 12% in 2023 from the prior year and 7% in California. Drops were recorded in both single-family homes — most of which tend to be for sale — as well as multifamily homes — which are chiefly rentals.

Dan Dunmoyer, president of the California Building Industry Assn., said one major reason for the decline is that many for-sale home builders foresaw “a massive downturn” and stopped buying lots to develop when mortgage rates soared in 2022.

Then a funny thing happened. Demand for their product didn’t crater as much as expected, in large part because existing homeowners didn’t want to sell and rid themselves of ultra-low mortgage rates.

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“Builders kind of woke up and realized ‘Oh, it’s just us [selling homes],‘” Dunmoyer said. “But we don’t turn on a dime.”

As for-sale builders restart their engines to take advantage of a shortage of listings, there are signs of improvement. During the first two months of this year, builders in California pulled 35% more permits for single-family homes than during the same period a year earlier, according to census data.

Permits for multifamily continued to decline — dropping 33%.

The diverging paths are probably due to several factors, said Rick Palacios Jr., director of research for John Burns Research and Consulting.

On a whole, single-family home builders have access to a wider source of debt that isn’t as vulnerable to rising interest rates. In the single-family market, the supply shortage has also worsened and home prices are climbing.

Meanwhile, rents in many places — including Los Angeles — have dropped slightly as vacancies have risen, in part because apartment construction has been relatively robust in recent years.

“Single-family solid, multifamily weak is a pretty consistent theme across most of the country,” Palacios said. “You’re hard pressed to find a market where developers and investors are gung ho on apartments.”

In the city of Los Angeles, developers must contend with another factor — Measure ULA.

The citywide property transfer tax took effect last year to fund affordable housing and has drawn the ire of the real estate industry.

Though it’s known as the “mansion tax,” except for rare exceptions it applies to all properties sold for more than $5 million, no matter if they are gas stations, strip malls, apartment buildings or actual mansions. Under the measure, a seller is charged 4% of the sales price for properties sold above $5 million and below $10 million.

At $10 million and above, the tax is 5.5%.

Apartment developers and real estate brokers said additional costs from ULA make it even harder to earn a reasonable profit in what can be a risky business.

That’s because when building apartments, developers often sell their finished product, which would probably trigger the ULA tax for any building over 15 units, according to Greg Harris, a real estate broker with Marcus and Millichap. Even developers who hold onto their properties typically need to take out a mortgage on the finished building — and Harris said lenders are willing to give less because they too would need to pay the tax if they foreclose and sell the property.

“ULA is like the last nail in the coffin,” said Robert Green, a Los Angeles developer. “It couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Many apartment projects got their start under different economic circumstances and have opened in recent years or will soon. That supply should help keep rents down for a while, but not forever, said Richard Green, executive director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.

In two or three years, as fewer apartments are finished “we will see rent start to go up again,” he said.

That would be a hit for Californians struggling to find housing in an expensive state where thousands sleep on the streets.

Economic cycles, of course, ebb and flow and construction may rebound.

The Federal Reserve plans to cut interest rates later this year, which may help more projects make sense financially, as could rising rents.

Land sellers could also drop their asking prices to adjust for rising developer costs, including ULA in Los Angeles.

Normally, real estate analyst Patap said he’d expect apartment construction to rebound as land costs adjust downward. But he noted developers say they are also cautious about building in L.A. because of a broader political shift in the city that’s more supportive of restrictions on landlords and more supportive of protections for tenants.

In the city of Los Angeles, multifamily permits dropped 24% in 2023 compared with 19% in Los Angeles County, census data show. (Data from the Construction Industry Research Board show even larger drops: 49% in the city and 39% in the county.)

Laurie Lustig-Bower, a commercial real estate broker with CBRE, said some L.A. landowners have reduced their prices to sell, but “if they don’t have a gun to their head” they are waiting until developers can pay more.

In recent years, state lawmakers have taken action to make it easier to build housing, in part by eroding local control over land use decisions.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has also fast-tracked 100% affordable buildings under her Executive Directive 1, while the city recently exempted smaller projects from some storm water capture requirements.

Mott Smith, chairman of the Council of Infill Builders, said more must be done to increase the number of new homes in Los Angeles and cited the storm water decision as the kind of steps government should take.

“The city has no influence over interest rates ... [but] what it controls is the process to get a project approved,” Smith said. “There are so many opportunities.”

For now, developers say it’s tough to find opportunities.

Kahan said his company runs the numbers on potential land purchases constantly and at least once a week finds it doesn’t make sense to buy and build.

He expects to purchase some land in Southern California by year’s end, though mostly outside of the city of Los Angeles where Kahan said he’s increasingly looking because of costs from ULA, which unlike current interest rates aren’t expected to change.

So far, Kahan said he’s yet to find a deal that will work — within or outside city borders.

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LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Chargers agreed to terms with wide receiver DJ Chark Jr. on Thursday, a source confirmed to ESPN.

NFL Network was first to report the news.

Chark, who has played six seasons in the NFL, brings the most experience to an unproven Chargers receiving room. The Chargers have no receiver with more than three years in the NFL, and none of whom has had a season with over 800 yards.

Chark, 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, played for the Carolina Panthers last season, where he had 35 catches for 525 yards and five touchdowns.

Chark's best season came when he played for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2019, where he had 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns, all career highs that earned him his first and only Pro Bowl selection.

The Chargers will hope that Chark can regain that form in L.A. after the Chargers traded wide receiver Keenan Allen, released wide receiver Mike Williams and let tight end Gerald Everett and running back Austin Ekeler leave in free agency. Those players made up 57% of quarterback Justin Herbert's completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns since he entered the NFL in 2020.

Injuries have hindered Chark recently; in the past five seasons, he's played only 54 of a possible 82 games. A second-round pick by the Jaguars in 2018, Chark, 27, has 212 receptions for 3,069 yards and 23 touchdowns in his career.

He'll be reunited with tight end Hayden Hurst and center Bradley Bozeman in L.A. Both played with him in Carolina last season.

A cold, Pacific storm moving toward Southern California on Thursday is expected to bring winter-like temperatures and the lowest-elevation snow so far this year, posing a risk for drivers on several mountain roads, according to weather forecasters.

Temperatures at elevations as low as 3,000 feet could reach freezing levels by late Thursday and Friday across the Southland — the lowest elevation for snow seen this winter and spring season, said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

“For this winter season, this definitely is the coldest,” Thompson said. However, the storm is not a particularly moist system, which means snow accumulation is expected to remain — at least in Southern California — in the inches.

“It’s not going to be a ton, but even a little bit on those mountain pass road — [Interstate] 14, the Grapevine — just a little bit of snow can cause issues for people,” Thompson said.

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Officials expect temperatures to drop into the 50s across the coasts and valleys and much lower in the mountains, where the storm could set daily records.

“I guess we saved the best for last,” said Alex Tardy, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego. “It’s enough precipitation that snow’s sticking between 3- and 4,000 feet and we’ll see some travel issues that we haven’t seen before [this year].”

Here’s what you need to know about the system set to upend springtime weather for at least the next two days:

When is it coming?

The storm is expected to make its way inland and move south over California Thursday. It arrived from the northern Pacific and brought frigid temperatures along with it.

“It’s just off the Northern California coast,” Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard, said early Thursday. “The cold front is going to be moving through the area, probably for [Los Angeles], this evening and then overnight.”

Already the storm has started to have an impact, with rain and some low-elevation snow recorded in the Bay Area on Thursday morning, where temperatures dropped considerably from Wednesday’s highs.

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Friday is expected to be even colder than Thursday, Wofford said.

Where can you expect to see storm effects?

Pretty much all of California can expect to have some cold, wet weather from this storm — from snow in the mountains to dangerous surf along the coast.

Showers and thunderstorms are forecast across the state through Friday and are expected to be intermittent and only severe in isolated areas.

In the Los Angeles County mountains and the Antelope Valley foothills — including across the Interstate 5 and Interstate 14 corridors — a winter weather advisory will go into effect at 5 p.m. Thursday until late Friday, with officials warning that snow could make travel very difficult.

“Delays or temporary closures are possible over many mountain roads, including Interstate 5 over the Grapevine,” the National Weather Service said.

In the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains, a winter storm warning will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday and last through late Friday. Officials warn that the heaviest snow is expected Friday, when driving through the mountains will be challenging, especially across the Cajon Pass.

“The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute,” the warning said. “Very strong winds could cause extensive tree damage.”

California

April 3, 2024

Snow is expected Thursday and Friday across the Sierra Nevada, with the southern portion and some Kern County mountains under a winter weather advisory through Friday evening. There could be up to a foot of snow and 60-mph winds at elevations above 3,000 feet, according to the Weather Service.

The northern Sierra Nevada mountains are bracing for anywhere between 6 and 24 inches of snow falling as low as at 2,000 feet in elevation, while the Shasta and western Colusa County mountains are expecting 4 to 10 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

What’s coming?

The storm’s most notable feature will be the cold, Wofford said, which is driving that low-elevation snow.

“It is cooler this morning [in Southern California], but the coldest air won’t really be arriving until Friday,” Wofford said. “Temperatures tomorrow [are] not going to get out of the 50s in most areas — in some parts of the country that’s a nice day, but in Southern California it’s definitely below normal.”

After hitting highs in the upper 70s Wednesday, temperatures Thursday have plummeted at least 10 degrees, if not more, Wofford said, with another 5-degree drop expected for Friday.

Elevations as low as 3,000 feet in L.A. County could see about an inch of snow, according to the National Weather Service. Above 4,500 feet, totals are expected to be between 3 and 6 inches.

Up to a foot of snow is possible on the San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains’ highest peaks, with 2 to 4 inches of snow possible from 4,000 to 5,000 feet in elevation and snow showers likely from 3,000 to 3,500 feet — enough to accumulate along the Cajon Pass.

“We should be seeing some light rain either late this afternoon or early this evening, with showers and thunderstorms possible all the way through Friday evening,” Wofford said. Depending on the strength and location of the thunderstorms, some areas could see heavy downpours, small hail, lightning and even a small tornado, he said.

But rain totals aren’t expected to be too high, with about a half-inch predicted for most of L.A. County and an inch expected in the foothills and mountains.

There’s also a concern for high surf across the Central Coast down to San Diego, with warnings of 8- to 16-foot waves and dangerous rip currents. This will remain an issue through Saturday, and on Friday morning, there’s a possibility for minor coastal flooding.

Could this storm be record breaking?

It’s very possible that the cold temperatures Friday could set some daily records, Wofford said. The current historic record for the coldest April 5 in downtown L.A. is 55 degrees — which is close to Friday’s expected high.

At the Los Angeles International Airport, the coldest April 5 on record topped out at 59 degrees, and Friday is expected to be slightly colder than that, Wofford said.

“It’s going to be close,” Wofford said. “It seems like a good chance we’re going to get those.”

As for rainfall, Wofford said it’s unlikely the region will hit any records, despite being close to the wettest two-year period in history. Downtown L.A. is less than two inches away from hitting that record — and could do so anytime before the end of September — but this storm isn’t expected to push the total over the edge.

The wettest back-to-back water years on record currently sits at 54.1 inches of rain, occurring in the late 1800s. Currently, downtown L.A. is at 52.46 inches since Oct. 1, 2022. (Water years run October through September.)

“It’s not likely we’ll do it with this storm but it’s not impossible,” Wofford said.

How long will it last?

Forecasts show this storm should be clearing out by Saturday.

“It’s a quick hitter so we don’t see the impact over the weekend,” Tardy said. “In fact the snow will taper off Friday night, ... and we warm up pretty quick.”

He said by Saturday afternoon, much of Southern California’s coasts and valleys will be back to temperatures in the mid 60s — only slightly below average for this time of year.

However, he warned that the weekend reprieve will be short-lived, with another small storm system expected to bring more winds and possibly some precipitation Monday.

LeBron James has joined the long list of fathers who understand that their dream for their child may differ from what that child wants or their reality. It’s not better or worse, things are just going to be different than once imagined.

In his exit interview after the Lakers were eliminated Monday night, LeBron was asked about playing in the future with his son, Bronny, who is testing the waters of the NBA Draft this June (but also is in the transfer portal and could remain in college).

“I haven’t given it much thought lately, obviously I thought about it in the past,” LeBron said, almost waiving the question away. “The end of the day, the kid has to do what he wants to do. I don’t even want to say kid no more, the young man will decide what he wants to do and how he wants his career to go.”

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski added depth to that with his report, based on his conversations with Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent.

“The idea of them playing together is not a priority, it’s not foremost, at least any longer, in LeBron James’ mind,” Wojnarowski said.

The Lakers want to retain LeBron’s services this summer and if that means drafting Bronny — likely not with the No. 17 pick but maybe in the second round — and bringing him in, Los Angeles would reportedly be open to it. However, is that what Bronny wants? Is that what is best for his development as a player and person? Only Bronny can answer those questions, with input from his father and mother, but also his agent (Rich Paul, not so coincidentally) and other advisors close to him.

“Rich Paul’s goal here in the pre-draft process for Bronny James is to see if there’s the right developmental system or organization, a place that can take a young player like Bronny James, who went five months without playing after his heart episode certainly limited him in his season at USC. If he does go in the draft, he very likely would spend next year in the G League,” Wojnarowski said.

That tracks with what NBC Sports heard from scouts who have seen Bronny play and think he has NBA potential but there is a lot of development to do. Some saw him as a potential two-way contract player who could grow with a lot of G-League run.

Again, is that what Bronny wants?

Paul said he expects LeBron to play next season and maybe has two or three more years in him, which means there is time for LeBron and Bronny to share the court if it doesn’t happen next season. It may not be how LeBron once envisioned the dream of playing with his son working out, but it will unfold the way it is supposed to.