Warmer . . . Drier : Weekend Is Expected to Improve With Age

A deep layer of moist marine air that moved ashore overnight brought thick clouds, lower temperatures, drizzle and a few hundredths of an inch of rain to parts of the Los Angeles Basin on Friday, but forecasters said today should be warmer, sunnier . . . and drier.

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, the previous record being 71 degrees in 1918.

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

Forecasters explained that it was all because of 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 Newport Beach, with .21 of an inch; El Toro with .20; Santa Ana with .15; Riverside with .12; Pasadena and San Bernardino with .10; Long Beach with .05, and Monrovia and Imperial Beach with .03 of an inch. Traces were recorded at Montebello, Point Mugu and San Juan Capistrano.

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.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service said an early autumn storm has moved into the Sierra and will be sending strong winds across the southern deserts today. Forecasters warned that while offering little moisture, the storm could result in reduced visibilities because of winds that could rise to 25 or 35 m.p.h. in spots.