60% Chance of Rain Today : Scattered Showers Dribble by Orange County

Warm, muggy tropical air moving through California on Wednesday scattered occasional showers and thundershowers over the deserts and mountains--and caused some flooding near San Francisco--but left Orange County dry and sunny for most of the day.

“Moisture,” said Mike Smith, meteorologist-spokesman for WeatherData, a private consulting firm that provides forecasts for The Times, “is not a uniform mass--it has holes in it, . . . and showers that were expected in (Orange County) went south and north of the basin.”

Nonetheless, Smith said he expected some rain to fall overnight and still more today.

“We always thought Thursday would be the main day for the showers,” he said, “and I still think this is the case.”

Showers Off the Coast

Radar showed isolated light rain showers off the coasts of Baja California and Southern California throughout the afternoon. Showers were reported in northeast San Bernardino County, in the mountains of Central California and east of Death Valley.

But the San Francisco Bay Area seemed to get the bulk of Wednesday’s rain.

At 3 p.m., the National Weather Service issued an urban flood statement for the Bay Area, warning of driving hazards from overflowing gutters in San Mateo and Alameda counties, with predictions of continued brief, but violent, squalls throughout the night.

The high temperature in Santa Ana on Wednesday was 81 degrees; El Toro and San Juan Capistrano shared highs of 75 degrees while Newport Beach reached 70 degrees.

A high of 74 degrees was forecast for Santa Ana today, with coastal cities expected to have highs about 69 degrees.

High temperature at The Los Angeles Civic Center high on Wednesday was 78 degrees, with relative humidity ranging from 54% to 81%.

Just 66 Overnight

The weather service said the overnight low of 66 degrees tied the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day, set in 1965.

The .01 of an inch of rain that fell downtown before dawn Wednesday raised the season total to .90 of an inch--.39 more than the amount that would be statistically normal for this point in the season, but still far below the 2.68 inches that had fallen by this time last year.

By late afternoon, .08 of an inch of rain had been recorded during the day at Mt. Wilson; .05 was reported at Lancaster; Monrovia, Point Mugu and Pasadena all had .02, and traces were recorded at several Orange County locations, and in Beaumont, Long Beach, Riverside and San Bernardino.

WeatherData and the weather service agreed that today should be a little cooler, with most temperatures in the Los Angeles Basin reaching the low to mid-70s.

Skies should remain cloudy through most of the day, with the chance of rain estimated at about 60%, tapering off to a 20% chance of showers overnight, and fair skies expected on Friday.