Just two more days of sun and warmth, then the weather's about to change — in a big way.

In a dramatic shift from the recent summerlike days, a potent storm with heavy winds and rain is expected to roar into the Bay Area on Monday and linger at least until Wednesday morning.

Monday's predicted storm is unusual for mid-October.

"Usually, October is pretty nice weather, we don't usually get the kind of rain we're expecting," said Larry Smith, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Monterey.

Forecasters say it could bring one to three inches of rain along the coast and in the valleys, with four to six inches possible in the Santa Cruz range, and another inch or two in San Jose. Winds, meanwhile, could gust up to 60 mph in some areas.

"It looks to be a pretty big one based on our weather models," Smith said. "It's a good welcome to a rainy season."

As a result, the National Weather Service has issued a special advisory about this "potentially serious developing weather situation," warning of possible mudslides, hazardous driving conditions and high winds that can down trees and power lines, causing outages.

The upcoming storm is triggered by a western Pacific typhoon that hit Japan a few days ago.

By Thursday, however, sunny skies should be here again, and weather forecasters expect a few more sunny weekends before the onslaught of the rainy season.

Contact Sandra Gonzales

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