Gray, Then Bright--It’s September as Usual

Overcast mornings and bright afternoons that have become the pattern for Southern California weather during the last few days should hang on through the weekend and perhaps into the early part of next week, forecasters said Thursday.

Matt Sullivan, meteorologist-spokesman for Earth Environment Service, a private forecasting firm based in San Francisco, said winds from Hurricane Norma--now churning up the ocean off Cabo San Lucas--had earlier been expected to push a few showers north to the deserts and mountains.

“But all of that seems to be going east into New Mexico instead,” he said, “so the weekend should stay dry and warm with night and morning low clouds along the coast--typical for this time of year.”

The high temperature at Los Angeles Civic Center on Thursday was 82 degrees, with relative humidity ranging from 44% to 84%.

Forecasters said today might be a degree or so cooler--with beach weather running 10 to 12 degrees below that figure.

Hurricane Norma was generating surf--three to five feet on most beaches--and the forecast called for about the same Saturday and Sunday, with water temperature within a degree or two of air temperature and a 10 to 15 m.p.h. sea breeze.

Forecasters said weekend yachtsmen can expect west to southwest winds rising to 15 knots in the afternoon with two-foot seas and southerly swell to four feet in inland waters from Point Conception to the Mexican border.

A small craft advisory was in effect Thursday afternoon for outer waters, where seas were running an awe-inspiring 11 feet. This was expected to subside a bit--to about seven feet--today, but rough conditions and variable winds to 10 knots were forecast for the next few days.