Agriculture Watchers Optimistic : Sunny Weekend Expected

Fair skies and temperatures in the high 60s are forecast for the weekend as part of a warming trend, while agriculture watchers are cautiously optimistic that Orange County will have enough rainfall to make crops plentiful.

Temperatures Thursday rose to the low 60s throughout most of the county with skies staying partly cloudy most of the day, the beginning of what should be a nice weekend throughout Southern California.

“It looks pretty decent for the weekend,” said Bill Hoffer of the National Weather Service. “If things stay as they are, it should be pretty good.”

High temperatures today should be in the 64-68 degree range in and around Orange County and in the 50s in mountain areas after overnight lows in the high 40s and high 30s in the mountains.

The forecast is even better beginning Sunday when temperatures should rise to the low 70s and maintain that level through Tuesday. Overnight lows through Tuesday should be in the 50s. The high temperatures in the mountains over the weekend should be in the middle 50s with lows in the 40s.

The Weather Service said a high pressure front that moved into the area from the north Thursday did not have the intensity necessary to greatly change the gradual warming trend that began earlier in the day, allowing for the expected nice weekend.

Forecasters said the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains should be beautiful, with fair skies and afternoon highs in the 50s at resort levels, dropping to the mid-20s in most places overnight and local northeast winds rising occasionally to 20 m.p.h.

Some warming was expected in the deserts, with skies remaining fair and humidity low; high desert temperatures were expected to reach the 60s in the afternoons--about 10 degrees below the levels forecast for the southern desert--and overnight lows were expected to remain in the 30s and 40s in both areas, with afternoon winds gusting to 15 m.p.h. and above.

Orange County got a nice dose of rain earlier in the week that should help barley, vegetable and citrus growers.

Bill Ambling, deputy county agriculture commissioner, said this week’s moisture will help the 1985 crop. About 6 inches of rain has fallen in Orange County during the past month.

“This will help. We’re still a little bit below normal, but not much,” he said.

Emmett Franklin, of the Orange County Environmental Management Agency, measured a total of 1.32 inches of rain Monday and Tuesday in Santa Ana. Franklin said the early rainfall is comparable to the amount by this time last year, after which unusually dry weather greatly affected harvests.

“I think we’re starting a little bit better than we did in January, 1984,” Franklin said.

Dean Bushinger of the Irvine Co. expressed guarded optimism that 1985 would be wetter than last year. He said the more rainfall, the less farmers have to spend on costly irrigation.

“It is still too early to tell (if the rain will continue),” Bushinger said. “The rains quit last year. But we would expect the rain to continue. Hopefully, it will and we can all breathe a little easier.”