Perfectly Lovely Weekend on Tap, If You Like It Nippy

The weekend should be a perfectly lovely, if somewhat nippy, example of fall in Southern California, National Weather Service forecasters said Thursday.

That good news is brought to you by a cheerful little upper-level ridge of high pressure over Idaho and northern Nevada that has kept the skies clear for the last couple of days and should continue to do so through Saturday night.

The high will weaken and clouds will begin to drift in on Sunday as harbingers of the second Pacific storm front of the season--due to hit sometime Monday.

It’s a little early to say just how much rain the Los Angeles area will get and, for now, all you need know is that what is immediately in store looks pretty attractive.

All the sunshine should keep this week’s slow warming trend going through Saturday, with high temperatures inland edging into the lower 70s and lows in the mid-40s.

Beach communities will see highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. Surfers will encounter two- to four-foot waves at 14-second intervals.

There’s a good deal of snow left in mountain resort communities where ski run operators--with the help of their snow-making machines--are gearing up for the first real weekend of the season. Temperatures in the mountain towns around the basin will range from high marks in the low 60s to overnight readings dipping down to around 30.

San Diego is in for a generally fair weekend, with highs near 70 and lows in the upper 40s.

Travelers heading north to the Bay Area for the weekend may find the weather iffy. Forecasters there are looking for that next wintry storm to start kicking up its heels by Saturday morning, with high temperatures in the mid-60s.

The immediate forecast for Las Vegas calls for fair skies, with high temperatures around 60 and lows in the 30s.

Tucson and Phoenix will be much the same--fair weather, but clouds drifting in Saturday, with highs in the upper 60s.