Dry, Warmer Weekend Due in the County

Sporadic, light rainfall surprised Orange County residents Friday morning, dampened the early weekend plans of many and was blamed for an increase in traffic accidents.

California Highway Patrol officials in San Juan Capistrano reported 15 minor accidents in the south county because of the rainy conditions, mainly on the San Diego freeway and the Ortega and Coast highways. No fatalities or major injuries were reported through Friday afternoon.

Paul Caldwell of the CHP’s Santa Ana office said officers received 20% to 28% more accident reports than on a typical Friday. Most were fender benders and cars sliding off slick roads.

Friday’s autumn-like conditions apparently made staying indoors popular. Many of Orange County’s recreational facilities had lower than normal attendance.

Disneyland officials reported about a 25% drop in attendence, contrasted with a typical, sunny Friday. All of the park’s rides and attractions were open, however.

Orange County beaches were almost barren, officials reported. Orange County park ranger Victor Oliveros said that, after a light morning rainfall, beach areas remained cool and overcast throughout the day.

Oliveros, whose territory extends from Newport Beach to Sunset Beach, said beachgoers numbered almost zero Friday.

“I went out to Sunset at noon, out to the middle of a mile-long stretch and looked in both directions and could not see one person,” he said. “On a typical sunny Friday at this time of the year you would have between 2,000 to 4,000 people out there.

“A quiet Friday is something unusual during the peak summer months. It’s nice to have a break. It slows everything down and gives us a chance to catch up on some of our paper work.”

“It’s staying-at-home and reading-a-good-book kind of weather,” said Joyce Hinds of Anaheim, who ventured out Friday to go to the post office and run a few errands.

“It’s really rather pleasant after the heat of the past few days. But I’m sure it will get sunny quick enough.”

However, Gloria Zigner and Associates, a Newport Beach public relations firm, isn’t betting on it.

To help publicize state Water Resources Control Board public hearings being held in Orange County this week, the firm sought aid from the Xipe Totec Indian tribe, whose members performed an ancient Aztec rain dance Tuesday on the shores of Anaheim Lake.

Frank Groff, one of the firm’s account managers, said: “We didn’t really want it to rain, but here it is. My boss called me up last night, laughing hysterically. We couldn’t believe it.”

Relative humidity ranged from a soggy 78% at midafternoon to a drenched 100% an hour or two before dawn.

Forecasters said it was all caused by a low-pressure area.

“It has been sitting along the coast for a while,” said Matt Sullivan, meteorologist-spokesman for Earth Environment Service, a private forecasting firm based in San Francisco, “but now it is breaking up and moving eastward.

“It helped create the overcast we had Thursday and Friday, but it should be nicer as the weekend goes on.”

Measurable rainfall was reported at Ramona, with .09 of an inch; Chula Vista and Escondido, .07 of an inch; Imperial Beach, .03 of an inch, and at San Diego, Burbank, Long Beach and El Toro, all .01 of an inch, while traces were recorded at San Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Ana, Ontario and Point Mugu.

More low clouds--and a 20% possibility of rain--were forecast for this morning, but forecasters said the sun should break through during the afternoon, raising temperatures five or six degrees above Friday’s highs, with another degree or two of warming expected Sunday.

While rain in August may have caught many Southern Californians unprepared, weather forecasters said the wet conditions are not unusual.

Mark McKinley, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Southern California forecast office, said Friday’s precipitation beat the normal beginning of the rainy season by just a couple of days.

“We weren’t surprised, because we had been forecasting heavy drizzle,” McKinley said. “This is not especially unusual. The beginning of the rainy season in this region was expected on about Aug. 20, so it’s just a few days early.”

McKinley cautioned against making too much of the early rainfall and said it does not necessarily foretell a heavier-than-normal rainy season. The National Meteorological Center in Washington, which issues 30- and 90-day forecasts, predicts an equal chance of above- or below-normal rainfall for Southern California through October.

The moist marine air brought drizzle and a few hundredths of an inch of rain to parts of the Los Angeles Basin.

High temperature at Los Angeles Civic Center was 68 degrees, and statisticians said the temperature was a record of sorts--the lowest high recorded for the date.