We're tracking a lot of weather over the next 24 hours.
Something we're already dealing with is strong winds.
Winds have already gusted up to 50 miles per hour through the Grapevine, and nearly 40 miles per hour in Bakersfield.
Winds will only get stronger into Wednesday night.
Gusts in the 70 to 80 mile per hour range are expected at the base of the Grapevine, and winds up to 60 miles per hour are possible over Highway 58.
The wind will be strong enough to cause tree damage, down powerlines, and make travel very difficult through the passes.
Winds will stay gusty past midnight, and likely die down between 4 and 5 AM Thursday.
In addition to the wind, we're tracking plenty of rain.
We won't see as much as northern California, where widespread flooding is expected, but flooding is possible in parts of Kern.
The rain will arrive as a heavy band Wednesday night, likely between 10 PM and midnight.
Initially the rain will be mostly in our mountain communities, and our rain shadow keeps the Valley dry.
The rain shadow is likely to erode a bit before sunrise behind a cold front, bringing rain into the Valley.
Additional rain in the form scattered showers and even some thunderstorms are expected Thursday afternoon into Thursday evening.
In all, Valley and desert locations can expect 0.25" to 0.50" of rain from this storm, with the up to an inch expected for our mountain areas.
The one exception to this will be the mountains bordering LA county, where over 2 inches of rain will be possible.
In the Valley, rain may lead to minor flooding in low-lying areas, but more significant impacts are expected in the mountains.
Heavy rain will make travel difficult by late Wednesday night, and flooding, rockslides, and debris flows will also be possible as the rain adds up into Thursday.
Mountain snow is expected, too, but snow levels look to drop only to around 5,000 feet, so thankfully we won't have to deal with snow over the passes on top of the other weather impacts.
We'll be tracking the storm and it's impacts over next 24 hours, and keeping you updated as things develop.
