MONTEREY — A storm heading into Monterey late Sunday will add to a rainfall total nearly twice the season average to date, the National Weather Service is reporting.

The Gulf of Alaska storm will blow through the Central Coast beginning in the afternoon and increase to a 60% chance of rain by Sunday night. Cynthia Palmer, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Monterey office, said it will produce showers in some places and light rain in others, similar to the storm that hit over the Christmas holiday.

“Right now our model differences have us scratching our heads, but it looks to be about what we had on Christmas Eve and Christmas,” Palmer said.

Expected rainfall from the storm will total anywhere from a tenth of an inch to a quarter-inch, depending on location. But for the 2019-2020 rainy season that began Oct. 1, December has seen more than abundant rainfall. Monterey has had 177% of normal, Palmer said.

The Pacific storms hit pretty much one after another in December, dumping 5.93 inches at the Monterey Regional Airport, which is 4.64 inches above normal, Palmer said. The season to date is sitting at 8.32 inches.

The precipitation prediction for January is a toss-up, Palmer said. The weather service’s Climate Prediction Center is showing equal chances of above or below rain for January, but Palmer did say the first week of the new year is looking dry.

High temperatures for the next week will be in the upper 50s, with lows in the lower- to mid-40s.

Snow is possible in the higher elevations of the Santa Lucia Range. Chews Ridge at 5,082 feet did see snow over Christmas.

Snow caused major travel delays in Southern California this week. The Grapevine section of Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass north of Los Angeles reopened Friday after a 36-hour closure forced by dangerous conditions that set in Christmas night.

Vehicles were being escorted in both directions by California Highway Patrol units.

The storm had largely departed by Thursday evening but cold air remained. The CHP said the closure continued into Friday because overnight temperatures fell into single digits and miles of roadway froze.

In the inland region to the east, the Cajon Pass section of Interstate 15 reopened after being closed for many hours. The major route for travel between greater Los Angeles and Las Vegas also reopened in the Mojave Desert after a lengthy shutdown between Baker, California, and Primm, Nevada.

Adding to the traffic misery, accidents caused massive morning backups on icy State Route 14, a major commuter route between Los Angeles and high desert cities in the snow-blanketed Antelope Valley. Other high desert routes had similar problems.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.