Nina

Well, Mother Nature is playing a cruel joke on you for the Memorial Day holiday.

Not only are we expecting cooler temps, clouds and even drizzle along the coast, but the Pacific Ocean just might want to swallow you whole. So be careful:

jacrews7

And it's not just an Inland Empire thing either.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said recently that the U.S. of A has recorded its hottest 12 months ... ever:

Colin Young-Wolff

Bad news for Coachella hipsters this weekend:

The second of two storms headed for Southern California will bring a chance of rain, windy conditions and low temperatures to the desert valley where Radiohead, The Black Keys and David Guetta are scheduled to perform.

Bring your neon sweaters, because this is what we have in store:

@Huntvision via Twitter

"Gray and rain for the drive into work today. Can't remember the last time it rained this much in Los Angeles #CSI"

And according to City News Service, thousands are still in the dark this morning, mainly in the Mid-Wilshire area.

In response, L.A. has waxed typically dramatic about STORM WATCH 2012:

L.A. Marathon

You thought winter was over early, but March's stormy lion will finally visit us this weekend with a strong storm that might hit during the annual L.A. Marathon Sunday.

The National Weather Service today issued a "special weather statement" warning that rain will likely hit Friday and continue possibly through Monday.

Really.

The L.A. Marathon today gave participants ...

@thebelieber143 via Twitter

"When nature gives you hail, take a picture of it on instagram."

But we're going to put aside the "L.A. weather wussies" jokes for now, so dumbstruck are we by the gorgeous, hail-themed Instagrams that inundated Twitter on Monday.

They were shot all through the hills, valleys and freeways of greater Los Angeles...

Such a drag.

Los Angeles journalists think any shift in the weather is breaking news. If it's cold, you can expect a wave of "Jack Frost possibly nips Hollywood sign!" stories or grim rain-damage estimates; if it's warm, every L.A. rag will run an obligatory "it's freaking gorgeous out" piece, usually about 1/4 whine and 3/4 brag.

Elvgre

Because Jack Frost will be nipping at your nose.

The National Weather Service this afternoon has issued an urgent weather advisory to warn you that there will literally be freezing temperatures right here in the L.A. basin overnight:

Mountain High

Sorry to get violent about it. But really, after Windopolypse earlier this month we're just getting started. It's not even officially winter yet, but look outside. That's weather. Coming from the greatest ocean on earth, the Pacific, which we happen to hang out next to a lot of the time.

The National Weather Service says starting today we should expect:

@Sandentotten via Instagram

"Tree toppled on Shell Gas station in Pasadena"

Originally posted at 9:35 a.m.

This is the closest Pasadena kids will ever get to a snow day: KNX news radio is reporting that the most insane Santa Ana winds in at least 35 years have ravaged the northeast L.A. County town even harder than the rest of the region. All schools in the Pasadena Unified School District are closed, and terrified residents are shuttered in their houses. Pasadena is being called the "epicentre" of this epic windstorm.

Occidental College

Among the wind-related calamitous happenings overnight, including trees into homes and power outages far-and-wide, was a grass fire on and around the Eagle Rock campus of Occidental College, President Obama's alma mater.

You gotta think last night was a good night to rid the L.A. City Hall lawn of occupiers too, given that Mother Nature's up-to 100-miles-per-hour gusts might have just blown the demonstrators off the face of the earth anyway.

The Occidental blaze was reported some time before ...

KTLA

When god doesn't deliver on the natural disasters, L.A. makes its own, dammit.

That chaos carried on until noon today, when a single lane was able to be reopened. And the Department of Water and Power doesn't estimate the rest will open until about 10 p.m., well after rush hour.

Obviously, somebody failed.

Small Animal Rescue Team Los Angeles via Facebook

"The kitten was safely rescued and is dry and warm at the East Valley Animal Shelter."

The Small Animal Rescue Team Los Angeles (SmART) responded late Friday night to a frantic 911 call from Sarah Strazi, a resident near the L.A. River and L.A. Valley College. She had spotted a small mewing kitten stuck in a drainpipe just above water level --

The winds are upon us.

We had a few scares back in the beginning of September -- including that pesky blaze all up in our Labor Day Weekend plans for Vegas -- but Jaime Moore of the Los Angeles Fire Department says conditions have worsened since then. "The beginning of the fire season started in October," he says. "Bue to weather conditions we've been experiencing, it's kind of been delayed."

Enter the fabled Santa Ana winds today...

Los Angeles Injury Lawyer Blog

This again.

And you know what a rainy day means in L.A.: People are going to freak the F out, creating a traffic tangle worse than the Internet trying to reconcile the Occupy protests with the death of 1-percenter Steve Jobs.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Francisco Villalobos tells us there were 481 collisions throughout L.A. County from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. yesterday, as opposed to...

@OWSLosAngeles via livestream.com

Good news: Megaphone kept in safe, dry place.

A perk of occupying L.A, one would think -- as opposed to occupying, say, Wall Street -- is a perpetually sunny SoCal sky under which to air your grievances.

Then you get a day like today. By 5 a.m. this morning, Occupy L.A. protesters outside City Hall were drenched in an early-October gift from the weather gods.

Going big at Venice Pier.

The National Weather Service issued a high surf advisory that takes effect at 5 p.m. today and last through 5 p.m Friday for south-facing beaches from L.A. to San Luis Obispo County. (We assume San Diego and O.C. will get this too).

Waves could range from 7 to 11 feet, the NWS predicts. According to Pete Thomas' Outdoors, action and adventure blog (via LAObserved) ...

Even our weather disasters are hotter.

Humidity.

City News Service reports that "the Southland's heat wave could become distinctly unpleasant today, because..."

Exactly what today feels like.

[Update, August 25, 4:35 p.m.: L.A. County health officials to the rescue! Two days into the heat wave, they've issued a "HEAT ALERT" for the county. In case you're still not understanding: IT'S MAD HOT OUT!

Bill Jensen.

Hot, hot, hot.

The National Weather Service is predicting that the peak temp on Saturday in the area will be near 100 (98, to be exact), which is 10 degrees above normal. Friday and Sunday, the other days of the fest, are expected to be in the 90s.

Why?