As a record-breaking Christmas storm wraps up across Southern California, sunny skies are in store for the weekend before rain returns on New Year’s Day. The storm prompted the wettest Christmas Eve-Christmas Day recorded for downtown Los Angeles in 54 years, the National Weather Service said, wit h the area catching 2.79 inches. Other Los Angeles spots actually broke records, with the wettest two-day totals for the holiday: Woodland Hills collected 4.64 inches, while near UCLA 3.10 inches fell. Antonio Sears and his daughter Anaya, 8, out for a walk during a break in the rain, watch the run off in Santiago Creek from the Santiago Street overpass in Santa Ana on Friday, December 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Visitors to Disneyland arrive prepared for rain as they cross Harbor Boulevard outside the amusement park in Anaheim on Friday, December 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) The Great Park Balloon hovers over Irvine on Sunday, December 26, 2021. Storms are expected to close out the year, with rain and 4 to 8 inches of snow at elevations above 4,000 feet and up to 16 inches above 6,500 feet Monday into Tuesday, with more after that. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG) Dylan Hameister, 16, of Seal Beach carries his body board along the berm near the Seal Beach Pier in Seal Beach on Thursday, December 26, 2019 as he takes advantage of the break in the rain to do some surfing. Find a way to keep distance between yourself and others. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 4Antonio Sears and his daughter Anaya, 8, out for a walk during a break in the rain, watch the run off in Santiago Creek from the Santiago Street overpass in Santa Ana on Friday, December 26, 2025. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) Expand And consider this: January through March are usually the wettest months for Southern California. In fact, the region has already collected more than half of what is typical for the year that started on Oct. 1. Downtown L.A. is even way ahead of that — having already collected 76% of its usual rainfall for the year. “That’s quite impressive, actually,” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Across California, water reservoirs are benefiting from the current storm. “All the large reservoirs, the levels are above the historical average for Dec. 25,” he said. Moving into the weekend, the region should see sunshine. “Pleasantly warm, I would say,” Sirard figured. Next week is expected to start off windy: A cool, dry offshore flow is forecasted to bring some strong Santa Ana winds, 40 mph to 50 mph in some stretches — up to 60 mph in other areas Sunday night and into Monday morning. “What’s going to happen with these winds, one of the concerns we have, is that since the ground is so saturated, it will take considerably less wind to knock down trees,” Sirard said. With the storm leaving the ground waterlogged, in addition to trees falling much more easily, there is the risk of power outages and driving hazards, he noted. On New Year’s Day, rain is expected to return to Southern California — though not with the ferocity of the storm that just hit. The National Weather Service says New Year’s Eve might even get some precipitation. Jan. 2 might get some rain, too — before another dry weekend. Below are the spots that collected the most rain for each county over three days, ending at 6 a.m. Friday, Dec. 26, for L.A. County and at noon for the other counties: Los Angeles County  Chilao South, 11.6 inches Warm Springs Camp, 11.3 inches Cogswell Dam, 11.1 inches Crystal Lake, 10.7 inches Warm Springs 9.9 inches San Bernardino County  Middle Fork Lytle Creek, 14 inches San Sevaine, 10.8 inches Wrightwood, 10.5 inches Lytle Creek, 9.7 inches Bernina Drive, 9.4 inches Orange County Upper Silverado Canyon, 4.8 inches Upper Harding Canyon, 3.8 inches Orange County Reservoir, 3.3 inches Fullerton Creek, 3.3 inches Riverside County  Mount San Jacinto, 3 inches Idyllwild, 2.8 inches Temescal FS Guard Station, 2.7 inches Live Oak Canyon, 1.9 inches Prado Dam, 1.8 inches ...read more read less