Hurricane Could Spawn Some Rain

A little rain could be heading for the Southland, forecasters said Friday as they watched powerful Hurricane Ramon churning the Pacific 500 miles southwest of Baja California, but they did not all agree on when it might show up.

The National Weather Service concluded that some of the moisture associated with Ramon will not begin moving north ahead of an offshore low-pressure trough until about Sunday.

“And this poses a chance of rain or showers in the Southland Monday, as the offshore low accelerates inland,” said Dion Hamilton of the weather service.

WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times, foresaw the possibility of some Southern California sprinkles earlier than that.

“We still think there is a chance you could get some (rain) late in the day on Sunday,” meteorologist Janice Roth said.

She called it “a small chance.”

In the meantime, Ramon was about to add to the surf already being stirred up along Southland beaches by a storm off faraway New Zealand. Coastal property owners were warned to stay alert this weekend.

As for the weather in general, there should be night and morning low clouds with hazy sunshine in the afternoons today and Sunday. The high downtown Los Angeles temperature today will be about 80 degrees. On Sunday, the high should be in the upper 70s.

In Orange County, there should be highs in the 70s to low 80s today and temperatures Sunday in the 70s along the coast to the low 80s inland.

Friday’s high in Santa Ana was 77 after an early morning low of 63. The relative humidity ranged from 90% to 50%.

The storm off New Zealand has been pushing a swell of about two feet toward Southern California beaches. It is expected to keep doing so for a few more days, the weather service said.

With the arrival of three-foot swells from Hurricane Ramon south of Cabo San Lucas, breakers averaging about five feet can be expected today on south-facing beaches. There should be occasional sets to eight feet.

“Swimming or surfing in these waves may be dangerous for anyone except expert swimmers,” warned the weather service. “People who are fishing or observing the waves from exposed coastal structures should be alert for occasional much-larger-than-average waves, which can suddenly sweep across previously dry areas.”

High tide at Los Angeles Harbor this morning will be about six feet. On Sunday, it will be about 5 1/2 feet, occurring about 10 a.m. High tide in Newport Beach this morning will be 5.9 feet at 11:14 a.m. On Sunday in Newport Beach, the high tide will be 5 1/2 feet at 11:47 a.m.