A weather system with strong winds and unusually cold air was headed toward Southern California on Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

The storm was expected to bring potentially damaging gusts out of the north or northwest, mountain snow and then very low temperatures.

"It is not too often in southern California that we see a broad scale strong northwest to north wind push like the current one," the Los Angeles region weather office wrote.

CALIFORNIA'S GRID FACES COLLAPSE AS LEADERS PUSH RENEWABLES, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, EXPERTS SAY

Mountains could get 1 to 3 inches of snow, including the Interstate 5 corridor over Tejon Pass north of Los Angeles.

The cold airmass in the wake of the storm could bring frosts or freezes as skies clear and winds decrease overnight, forecasters said.