Put Tanning Lotion Away; Rain Forecast

If this is November, someone better remind the folks in Santa Ana.

With just 37 shopping days left before Christmas, Santa Ana recorded the hottest temperature in the nation Thursday when the mercury inched up to 86. That’s a full 14 degrees higher than the average temperature for this time of year and only three degrees shy of the all-time Orange County record of 89 that was set back in 1954.

But thanks to a cold front moving in from the Pacific, things should be cooling off considerably beginning late this afternoon. Forecasters say clouds will start rolling in around 6 p.m., bringing light showers through the night and into early Saturday.

“It’s not a big storm, but it will bring some rain,” said Mike Smith, a meteorologist for WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times. “You won’t have heavy thunderstorms, but you will be getting some rain.”

Dry Day for Big Game

Smith said the showers should taper off by midday Saturday, raising the prospect of a dry day for the annual UCLA-USC football game.

Smith stressed that the storm would not be a major one--”maybe as much as a third of an inch of rain”--but football fans and others who are outdoors on Saturday should pack some rain gear. Heavier rainfall is expected in the local mountains, he said.

And more showers could reach the Southland by Sunday night, the National Weather Service added.

Despite the chance of rain, temperatures should be comfortable with highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s and 50s, the weather service said.

If Santa Ana was hot on Thursday, the rest of Orange County wasn’t far behind. San Juan Capistrano came in with a high of 81, El Toro hit 80 and Newport Beach recorded 74. Nearby, Long Beach competed with Santa Ana as the nation’s hot spot with a temperature of 85.

Hotter Than Normal

Across Orange County, the low temperatures recorded were an average of five to six degrees hotter than normal.

For today, forecasters expect the temperature in San Juan Capistrano to hit 77 with 76 expected in Santa Ana, 74 in El Toro and 71 in Newport Beach.

Smith had this bright note for Southland football enthusiasts fretting about Saturday’s weather: Snow flurries with temperatures in the 20s are expected for the traditional Ohio State-Michigan game at Ann Arbor, Mich., and the high at Lincoln, Neb., may reach the lows 50s by game time for the Oklahoma-Nebraska battle.