Cold Storm Brings Chance of Weekend Rain To Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA — Southern California's weeklong hot spell came to a sudden end Friday, with temperatures dropping sharply -- more than 12 degrees in some areas -- ahead of three days of showers starting Saturday.

Temperatures this week ran around 9 degrees above normal in Downtown L.A, 14 degrees above normal in the San Fernando Valley, and 17 degrees above average in the Santa Clarita Valley. Forecasters had blamed the unseasonable heat on a ridge of high pressure and an offshore flow that cut down sea breezes.

But -- with a deepening marine layer, more cloud cover now in play and a trough of low pressure approaching, along with a late-season storm out of the Gulf of Alaska -- temperatures will revert mostly to normal levels Friday, though they'll remain a degree or 2 above normal in the valleys and up to 8 degrees above the average in the San Gabriel Mountains and the Antelope Valley, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said.

The approaching storm is largely starved of moisture but packs cold air, he said. Only showers are in L.A. County's forecast for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, with only between a quarter-inch and three-quarters of an inch of rain expected. Orange County, as of Friday morning, is forecast to experience showers only on Sunday.

Friday's temperature highs are expected to be in the low 70s in Downtown L.A. -- about 10 degrees lower than earlier in the week -- and in the mid to high 70s in the valleys, where they reached the 90s as late as Thursday. Orange County temperatures, which did not spike as dramatically as they did in Los Angeles County, will be in the 70s and 80s Friday.

The NWS forecast cloudy skies in Los Angeles County Friday and highs of 66 degrees Fahrenheit at LAX; 68 in Long Beach; 68 in Long Beach; 70 in Avalon; 71 in Downtown L.A.; 73 in Burbank; 74 in San Gabriel; 77 in Pasadena and Woodland Hills; 79 on Mount Wilson; 80 in Saugus; and 88 in Palmdale and Lancaster.

Temperatures will dip by up to 10 degrees in Los Angeles County Saturday amid showers, which will span three days in the San Gabriels and Antelope Valley but only two in most other L.A. County areas. Temperatures in L.A County will begin ramping up Monday, reverting to the 70s.

Partly cloudy skies were forecast in Orange County Friday, along with highs of 66 in Laguna Beach; 67 in Newport Beach and San Clemente; 74 in Mission Viejo; 75 in Irvine and Anaheim; 76 in Fullerton; and 78 in Yorba Linda.

City News Service; Photo: Jennifer Cook