Weekend Forecast: Gloomy Skies, Possible Rain

Gloomy skies and possible showers were about all the forecasters could talk about Thursday as an approaching storm front moved toward Southern California behind a wide wall of high clouds.

A 30% chance of rain was seen for this afternoon and tonight when the weather front actually moves into the area. There could be .10 to .20 of an inch of rainfall in the coastal areas and up to half an inch in the mountains, the National Weather Service said.

On Saturday, a colder and more unstable air mass will move in, keeping skies partly cloudy and bringing a 20% chance of still more showers.

By Sunday, however, the outlook is for mostly fair weather with a few clouds over the Southland--and perhaps some gusty northerly winds in the coastal region, in the mountains and in the deserts.

It should be fair and warmer Monday and Tuesday.

The weather front, associated with a low-pressure area moving inland over the Oregon coast, already was producing a few showers Thursday afternoon along the northern Baja California coast, in the San Diego area, in the coastal mountains near Gorman and in the San Joaquin, Owens and Antelope valleys.

It is expected to be a bit cooler today and Saturday, with Los Angeles area highs in the mid-60s today and a couple of degrees lower on Saturday.

Thursday’s Los Angeles Civic Center high was 68 degrees after an overnight low of 55. The relative humidity ranged from 57% to 33%.

Southern California mountain areas should have snow above the 9,000-foot level. There probably will be snow at the 7,000- or 8,000-foot level in the southern Sierra Nevada, where there also will be some rain and increasing winds over passes and ridges.

As for the weekend, Southern California mountains may have some showers on Saturday and be cloudy and cool on Sunday with gusty northerly winds and high temperatures in the mid-60s to low 70s.

The eastern deserts will still have a slight chance of showers on Sunday, when high temperatures in the northern deserts will range from the mid-50s to low-60s. Highs in the southern deserts will be in the 60s.