Bright Skies and Dry Air Expected for the Weekend

Tropical moisture that kept Southern California hot and muggy for several days finally started moving northward Thursday, and the National Weather Service predicted a weekend of bright skies, dry air and a slight cooling trend along the coast.

In Orange County Thursday the high temperature reached 90 but it was much cooler than that--73--at the beach.

High temperature at the Los Angeles Civic Center on Thursday was 91 degrees. Passing remnants of tropical depression Guillermo kept relative humidity in the 38% to 67% range.

But forecasters said the storm--now more than 700 miles off the tip of Baja California--was moving away to the west.

Thundershowers in Mountains

Enough moisture was left behind to brew up afternoon and evening showers and thundershowers in the mountains and deserts. Storm pods were scudding through the Sierra north of Bishop and Inyokern by late afternoon. Continued instability was predicted in those areas for the next few days.

Along the western edge of Southern California, however, the forecast was for a return to typical summer weather.

Beaches were expecting moderate surf: two- to three-foot sets with water temperature in the high 60s, a 7- to 16-m.p.h. sea breeze and air temperatures in the 70s.

Except for a low surf, beach conditions were good Thursday at Orange County beaches, said Curt Loeffler, a lifeguard at Huntington State Beach.

“It was beautiful today, to tell the truth,” Loeffler said. “It was clear, there was no wind. But we had no surf. Other than that, it was perfect.”

Yachtsmen who stay close to shore can expect light morning airs to freshen southwest to west and rise to 20 knots with one- to two-foot wind waves in the afternoon and evening from Point Conception to the Mexican border. Those venturing farther out were told to look for northwest winds to 25 knots (and an occasional local gust to 30 knots) in the afternoon, with combined seas running three to six feet.

The forecast for the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountain ranges included a few afternoon and evening thundershowers through the early part of next week.