Light Showers Should Be All Finished by Afternoon

Orange County faces a 50% chance of light showers this morning, but it should all be over by afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The forecast calls for a rerun of Monday morning’s scattered and very light rainfall around Orange County and in other parts of Southern California.

The long-threatening showers had been stalled off the California coast over the weekend before the rain clouds and light precipitation finally moved inland Monday. The moisture caused slick pavement but relatively few accidents on freeways in Orange County, according to the California Highway Patrol.

“I was somewhat surprised,” said a CHP radio dispatcher in Santa Ana Monday night. “I thought there would be more accidents because of the rain. But you know what? People are learning to drive slower when it rains now.”

Rainfall during the day Monday was so light it amounted to less than a trace in many parts of Orange County, the National Weather Service said. But rain began again Monday night in many areas of the county and was amounting to considerably more than a trace.

During the day hours Monday, Newport Beach recorded .01 inch of rain, and the high temperature in the city only rose to 71 degrees. The overnight low temperature in Newport Beach was 62 degrees. In El Toro the high temperature was 79, while Santa Ana’s was 74. Lows in both cities were 62.

Today’s forecast calls for much the same temperature range and a 50-50 chance of light morning showers. The National Weather Service said cloudiness--but not rain--is likely in the afternoon.

The heaviest rainfall in Southern California during the day hours Monday was on Catalina Island, where the city of Avalon reported .12 inch of precipitation. The total was rising as more rain fell Monday night.

Numerous light, isolated showers Monday morning sprinkled the state from Monterey to Baja California as an upper-level low-pressure system picked up some subtropical moisture and then was drawn eastward by the influence of a storm pattern over the Pacific Northwest.