LOS ANGELES — Rain and strong winds are expected across Southern California Friday as Tropical Storm Kay makes its way up the coast from Mexico. 

Kay made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane over the Baja California Peninsula on Thursday before being downgraded to a tropical storm. 

The wet weather comes after a 10-day, record-breaking heatwave across the state. 

“Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen spoke with retired Jet Propulsion Lab oceanographer and climatologist Bill Patzert about the extreme weather California experienced this week.

“It's been brutal, especially if you don't have air conditioning,” Patzert said.

Now he is keeping a close eye on this storm. 

“It's finally reached cooler waters, and it's breaking up. But it's going to break up right over Southern California and eastern Arizona and we're in for a dramatic change in the weather,” he said.

The National Weather Service says the area could see coastal flooding and flash flooding in the LA mountains and the Antelope Valley. 

There is also a chance of dangerous lightning throughout the weekend.

“We've had such little precipitation here in the last eight or nine months that the rainfall tends not to soak in, but runoff, especially in the burn areas,” Patzert said. “What we usually expect is mudslides and flash floods. As much as everybody's going to enjoy the rain, be very careful out there, especially if you're below the fire zones, because it can be quite dangerous.”

Let Inside the Issues know your thoughts and watch Monday through Friday at 8 and 11 p.m. on Spectrum News 1.