Mixer: El Niño to the rescue?

Scattered thunderstorms have been battering the mountain and high desert areas this week with flooding rain, fierce lightning and even hail.

Monsoonal moisture continues across Southern California, and where it’s not raining, there’s plenty of moisture in the air.

Forecasters say the added moisture is part of a warming of Pacific Ocean waters that could continue to have a big effect on California weather in the next several months, going into next year.

An El Niño, as its known, could mean beneficial rain to combat a 4-year drought in the region. But it could also mean some potentially dangerous and damaging weather as well.

Fritz Coleman is a forecaster for KNBC-TV/Channel 4 here in Los Angeles. Rong-Gong Lin II is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, who wrote about the potential for rain and also more turbulent weather in the area for the newspaper.