Ramon’s Parting Shot May Be Some Showers

Hurricane Ramon began sputtering out 800 miles southwest of Southern California on Monday, leaving Orange County with the prospect of little worse than cloudy weather after a few possible drizzles or light showers this morning.

“It looks as if there may be a few showers in Orange County on Tuesday morning, but the chances for rain definitely diminish in the afternoon,” said Patricia Cooper, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“I think you’ll have no problem by Wednesday and for the rest of the week.”

Another storm front was spotted in the northeastern Pacific and could move toward the California coastline later in the week, “but I don’t see that causing you any problems right now,” Cooper said.

Despite respectable downpours in San Diego County--1.5 inches at Cuyamaca Park, 1.31 inches at Oceanside Harbor and Fallbrook, 1.01 inches at Julian and 1 inch at Vista--rains moderated as they reached Orange County and areas northward.

San Juan Capistrano reported .69 of an inch of rain in the 24 hours ending at 5:30 p.m. Monday, but the clouds reaching Santa Ana and Newport Beach dumped a mere .05 of an inch.

Los Angeles failed to record any measurable rain from Ramon, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression. The Los Angeles Civic Center’s season total remained .10 of an inch, compared to a normal season-to-date reading of .39. A year ago, the season total already had reached 2.68 inches at the Civic Center.

There was enough rain to dampen pavement, however, and a man was killed when he apparently lost control of his car on rain-slick 53rd Street between Main Street and Broadway, crashing into a pickup truck parked at the curb, Los Angeles police said.

During the rain in Orange County, a man died when his car crashed into a car-transport truck on the San Diego Freeway in Seal Beach. But the collision was caused by a severe heart attack suffered by the driver rather than by rainy conditions, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said.

A driver in Long Beach was killed when his car skidded on the wet transition road between the Long Beach and Artesia freeways, rolled down an embankment and threw him out of the vehicle, the spokeswoman said.

WeatherData predicted highs in the upper 60s and 70s in Orange County today and lows in the 50s and low 60s. Inland temperatures were expected to reach the lows 80s Wednesday.

Times staff writers Gordon Grant and Steve Emmons contributed to this report.