Wet week forecasted

Marisa O’Neil

Southern Californians will get a weeklong taste of Northwest weather

as a series of wet storms work their way through the area.

Coming on the heels of another small storm Wednesday, the rain

should linger through next week, forecasters expect. The main rain

event is expected to start at about midday today and continue through

Sunday, dumping about two inches before the next one moves in.

Around here when it rains, even if it doesn’t pour, natives tend

to get restless. It isn’t every day that water falls from the sky,

after all.

But for hardy souls from parts north like Seattle -- the soggy

land that gave us mass-market coffee houses in which to huddle -- a

little water falling from the sky is no big deal.

“It’s always ridiculous to me when people freak out because of the

rain,” said Berkeley graduate Ryan Pauley, who works at Orange Coast

College. “There’s constant weather in Northern California, in the Bay

Area. I like that better. There’s visible change in the environment.”

Other transplants have become more acclimated to Newport-Mesa’s

usually sunny skies.

“It rains so little here, I actually think it’s kind of exotic

when it gets dark and windy,” Coast Community College District

spokeswoman Erin Cohn said. “However, if it persists for more than

about a day, I tend to get pretty cranky about it. Umbrellas and

raincoats and waterproof shoes are just not part of my vocabulary

since I moved from Northern California, and I’ve forgotten they

exist, let alone how to use them.”

Like it or not, the chilly, drizzly weather will stick around

Newport-Mesa at least through Thursday, according to the National

Weather Service. Temperatures will reach the upper 50s during the day

and hover in the 40s during the night.