Tropical Storm Kay brings rainy reprieve to heat-weary Orange County communities

With a weeklong excessive heat warning forecast on its last leg, Orange County residents battling high temperature fatigue received a bit of a reprieve Friday in the form of afternoon showers that blanketed coastal communities and could continue through Monday.

Brandt Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s San Diego office said the outer band of Tropical Storm Kay — circulating about 130 miles south of San Diego on Friday afternoon — would create rainy conditions for parts of Orange County throughout the weekend.

Construction worker John Torrez pulls a tarp over a roof as rain begins to fall on Friday in Laguna Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

“We have some chance of rain even into Monday. [But] most of the rain will fall tonight and Saturday,” Maxwell said Friday, estimating communities could see from one-third to one-half inch of rainfall.

Thunderstorm activity could be greater in inland portions of the county, though the brunt of the weather pattern will likely be felt in Riverside and San Diego counties, he added.

Orange County’s Public Works Department on Friday said officials were keeping a close eye on the Bond fire burn area in Silverado, Modjeska and Williams canyons, where rain could possibly trigger flash flooding, mud/debris flows and evacuation warnings.

A group of rain-ready visitors walk along with umbrellas in downtown Laguna Beach on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Residents concerned about those areas were urged to sign up to receive emergency notifications via phone calls, text messages or emails by visiting AlertOC.com.

The city of Costa Mesa provided sandbags outside City Hall, located at 77 Fair Drive, where residents could fill up to 15 bags per household for free.

Precipitation from tropical storm activity in the Pacific comes on the heels of a ridge of high pressure that created a “heat dome” effect and resulted in unusually high temperatures, even in beach cities, in the last two weeks.

A spectator leans under an umbrella as rain begins to fall Friday at the Laguna Open women’s beach volleyball match at Main Beach.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

That pattern will shift this weekend as the rains bring forecast temperatures from well into the 90s down into the low-80s, Maxwell said. By the time skies clear up on Monday, conditions may warm up slightly but will not be nearly as hot as daytime highs recorded earlier this month.

A National Weather Service wind advisory was issued for Orange County coastal and inland areas shortly after 4 p.m. Friday and was to remain in effect until midnight Saturday.

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