Storms May Linger to Greet the New Year

With the first raindrops already falling in what is expected to be a wet week, forecasters Sunday said the odds were nearly even that it would rain on Pasadena’s big parade New Year’s Day.

“It’s kind of iffy now, but it doesn’t look too good,” said Steve Burback of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “A series of storms will be coming across the area over the next several days.”

While Sunday’s showers amounted to little more than tropical moisture pulled in from the Hawaiian Islands by the jet stream, an intense low-pressure system was lurking off British Columbia and is expected to move south, hugging the coast for much of the week.

The National Weather Service put the chance of rain today at 80%.

The news that there is about a 40% chance of rain on Friday did not daunt organizers of the Tournament of Roses, which has been remarkably lucky over 103 years of generally splendid New Year’s days.

“Frankly, the parade goes on rain or shine,” said Caryn Eaves, manager of public relations for the parade, which will be broadcast to China this year for the first time, making for a potential viewership of 1.45 billion people.

“It has rained nine times,” Eaves said. “The last time was 1955, so we’ve been lucky for a long time, and I’m knocking on wood right now.”

The storm system was expected to bring the snow level down to between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, the National Weather Service said.

As of Sunday afternoon, rainfall for the season stood at 4.05 inches at the Los Angeles Civic Center, up from last season’s 1.37 inches.