Southland Weather : Warmer Days on the Horizon

The sun made only a spotty return to Southern California Thursday, but the forecasters said things might warm up a little today and over the weekend, as a sluggish low-pressure system finally moves off toward Nevada and Arizona.

The heat is not expected back any time soon, however.

Light rain was scattered from the coast to southern Nevada on Thursday, as the low-pressure system remained centered over the Mojave Desert. Downtown Los Angeles recorded a lackluster .01 of an inch, bringing the two-day and season total to .19.

The Civic Center temperature reached a high of 70 degrees, after an overnight low of 62. Relative humidity ranged from 90% to 59%.

Coastal Highs

Today, said the National Weather Service, highs should be in the mid- and upper 70s in the coastal areas, possibly getting into the low 80s by Saturday, as cloudiness clears.

The mountains and deserts should also have clearing weather over the weekend, with mountain high temperatures ranging from 65 to 75 by Saturday and southern desert high temperatures mostly in the 90s then. The northern deserts should be in the 80s on Saturday.

Thursday was a little different from a year earlier, when the downtown Los Angeles high was 105 degrees, setting a record for Sept. 5.

Although early September usually brings warm and placid days to California as a whole, the weather service pointed out that the current pattern is typical of late fall or early winter. Computer forecasts indicate that the weather will be cooler and wetter than normal through next week at least, and possibly for several weeks.

That, forecasters said, is because high pressure in the Gulf of Alaska has pushed the jet stream southward, bringing rain-producing storm systems toward the state.

Fire Danger

“On the good news side,” the weather service said, “light rain would reduce the fire danger over the grass and woodland areas around the state. On the bad news side . . . rainfall at this critical time of the year can cause great damage to many of the prime cash crops.”

The weather service’s extended forecast called for considerable cloudiness in the Southland by Monday, with a chance of showers through Tuesday, and highs in the 60s.

Weekend boaters should have fair sailing. The forecast calls for winds of 10 to 16 knots and swells of one to two feet in inland waters today and west to northwest winds of 10 to 20 knots, as well as four-to-six-foot seas in outer waters through tonight.

Surf will be two to three feet along most Southland beaches today and Saturday.