Rain Threat Drowns ‘Chorus’; More Gray Weather Expected

Gray skies and drizzle did more than bring the first measurable rainfall of the season Tuesday--it stopped the show in Balboa Park’s Starlight Bowl, where the San Diego Civic Light Opera Assn. canceled a performance for the first time in 40 years.

Ticket holders began calling the Starlight about 3 p.m. Tuesday to find out if “A Chorus Line” would hit the stage despite the weather. Artistic director Don Ward canceled the show at 5:30 p.m. when the National Weather Service predicted intermittent showers until 10 p.m.

“The weather bureau said the park would be right in the line of rain. Because of the musicians and the audience, we canceled. The musicians are completely exposed to the elements--we wouldn’t ask them to perform under those conditions,” Ward said.

The canceled performance will be staged Monday--postponing the play’s closing night by a day and ending the company’s season.

About 90 people, from dancers to ushers to ticket sellers, must adjust schedules to keep the play going into the second day of fall, Ward said. It is the first time the company has canceled a performance before it began--Ward said rain did halt a performance between acts in 1951.

According to the National Weather Service, skies should be sunny on Monday for the Starlight show, but with the erratic and unseasonal weather that has moved into San Diego recently, forecasters aren’t hanging their hats on predictions.

A 20% chance of rain is expected today with continued gray skies. Partly sunny skies should return on Thursday--if the low-pressure system weakens as predicted.

At a time when San Diego is normally overheated by Santa Ana conditions bringing high temperatures, late summer this year has been marked by cool, autumn-like weather and occasional rain.

Traces of rain fell throughout the county Tuesday, with measurable rainfall recorded at 0.06 of an inch at Lindbergh Field, 0.03 at San Diego State University, 0.02 at Lemon Grove and Coronado, and 0.05 of an inch in Imperial Beach.

The high at Lindbergh Field didn’t top 72 Tuesday, and El Cajon’s high of 78 was about 10 degrees below normal. Highs today in both inland valley and coastal areas are expected to drop slightly, with temperatures in the low 70s.

According to forecasters, the low-pressure system generating the stormy weather is the latest in a series of four that have invaded the county since mid-summer. The air mass aloft appeared saturated and unstable Tuesday night, a sign that more drizzle can be expected today.

Forecaster Wilbur Shigehara said travelers should be alert for gusty winds up to 30 m.p.h. in the mountains, where temperatures are expected to be cold. Nighttime lows in the mountains should continue to dip below freezing, and daytime highs are expected to be from 50 to 58. Desert highs are expected to be in the 80s, with lows in the 60s.

Although some sunshine is predicted for Thursday, forecaster Richard Stitt said Tuesday night that a storm 500 miles south of Cabo San Lucas was moving north at an increasing speed. Stitt said tropical storm Terry just might bring more moisture to San Diego by the end of the week.