1. You Were Warned: A Super El Niño May Be Coming
I know, I know. You’ve seen the headlines for weeks now. So what’s different? The National Weather Service released an updated forecast Thursday. El Niño now has an 82% chance of forming between May and July. By winter, the odds it is still going grow to 96%.
It could be a big one. There is a 35% chance this El Niño becomes what forecasters classify as “very strong” — what some are calling a super El Niño. Only four have occurred since 1950.
This one could be the biggest in 100 years.
The Climate Prediction Center said Thursday El Niño is also expected to fuel an above-average Eastern Pacific hurricane season. AccuWeather puts Southern California, along with Hawaii and Baja California, at elevated risk of direct impacts this season. A storm does not need to make landfall to cause damage. Tropical moisture streaming northward from a weakening Pacific hurricane can trigger flash flooding and mudslides — especially in areas already stripped bare by wildfires. Southern California has seen it before. Hurricane Hilary hit in August 2023.
Forecasters say El Niño is already waiting in the wings. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
2. A Governor Candidate Is Coming to The Abbey Saturday
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan will stop by The Abbey on Saturday around 12:30 p.m. Mahan, 43, is running for California governor as a moderate Democrat. He announced his candidacy in January 2026. He has raised more than $14 million — more than any Democratic rival except billionaire self-funder Tom Steyer. He is polling in the top three in a crowded field with the June 2 primary three weeks away.
Mahan built his political profile by cutting street homelessness in San Jose by roughly a third. He backed Proposition 36, the 2024 tough-on-crime ballot measure that Governor Newsom opposed. He wants to suspend the state gas tax. He describes himself as a pragmatist who will deliver results rather than “performative politics.” Thursday night’s CBS debate was the last major debate before the primary.
Connecting Mahan to West Hollywood is James Duke Mason. Mason is a WeHo resident serving as Special Advisor and Liaison to the Mahan campaign for the LGBTQ+ community and Southern California. He has served as an appointed city official in West Hollywood focused on LGBTQ+ issues and sat on the board of the West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation. He served as an official surrogate for Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and as an LGBT surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Mason published an endorsement of Mahan on WEHOonline. He said Mahan “is the pragmatic, proven leader who can move California forward without sacrificing our values.”
3. WeHo Pride Announced Its Street Fair Lineup — and Meg Stalter Is Headlining
The City of West Hollywood announced the lineup for this year’s free Pride Street Fair on Thursday. The fair runs Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7, along Santa Monica Boulevard.
Meg Stalter leads the bill. Stalter plays Kayla in HBO Max’s Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series Hacks. She is making her debut as a recording artist with the single “Prettiest Girl in America” and a forthcoming album, Crave, due this summer. She is also set to make her Broadway debut as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!
Willa Ford is also on the bill. Ford scored a Top 40 breakout hit with “I Wanna Be Bad” and returns this year with amanda, her first full-length album in more than two decades. Additional performers include Cailin Russo, Say Now, Elio, Shaun Ross, Ve’Ondre, Banoffee, and more than two dozen others.
Performances take place on two free outdoor stages. The Rainbow Stage is at Santa Monica Boulevard and Palm Avenue. The Celebration Stage is at Santa Monica Boulevard and North Robertson Boulevard. Both run noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The WeHo Pride Women’s Freedom Festival is also part of the weekend. Full WeHo Pride Weekend runs Friday, June 5, through Sunday, June 7.
4. SB 79 Comes to City Council Monday. Forty-Three Days Left.
West Hollywood City Council meets Monday with SB 79 on the agenda. The state’s transit-oriented development law takes effect July 1. That is 43 days from Monday.
Three future Metro K Line stations have been approved in West Hollywood. Under SB 79, that could allow residential buildings up to 65 feet tall near those stations by right — without public hearings or neighborhood input — years before a train runs. Staff presented four options to Council. Do nothing and let the state framework take effect. Adopt an urgency ordinance before July 1. Concentrate new density on commercial corridors through preemptive upzoning, the approach Los Angeles is pursuing. Or create a local Transit Oriented Development Alternative Plan, known as a TODAP, that steers growth where the City chooses while still meeting state capacity requirements.
Beverly Hills filed a TODAP in January. West Hollywood has filed nothing.
Residents are expected to pack the chambers. Jonathan Finestone, president of the West Hollywood West Residents Association, emailed neighbors urging them to attend and to speak twice. “The clock is ticking,” he said. The meeting is at City Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd. Parking is free with validation.
5. Amy Grant Performed at the Troubadour Wednesday for Covenant House California
Grammy Award-winning artist Amy Grant performed at the Troubadour in West Hollywood’s Rainbow District on Wednesday night. The show was the inaugural “Speak Out” benefit concert for Covenant House California, held May 13.
Covenant House California serves young people ages 18 to 24 experiencing homelessness. Its programs provide shelter, meals, mental health services, education, and career support. Proceeds from Wednesday’s event go directly to those programs.
Grant performed alongside Covenant House California’s own Cov Band. The evening also featured stories from young people impacted by homelessness and CHC’s services.
So sad I missed Amy Grant. I always find out about stuff after the fact. On another note, Matt Mahan sounds like he has some solid policies. I wish he was running for L.A. Mayor instead. He’d have a better chance of winning. Though I’m sure no matter what many Democrats will call him a right wing extremist for being tough on crime and wanting to illiminate the gas tax. They have never met a tax they did not love.