March Dribbles In : Predicted Downpour Yields to Light Sprinkles

March came in like an awakening lion--with more of a yawn than a growl--as a predicted downpour turned to light sprinkles Tuesday in Orange County and across the Southland.

Most of the county was spared the heavy rain that had been expected, although the El Toro area did get almost half an inch compared to just 0.14 of an inch in Santa Ana and 0.22 of an inch in Laguna Beach.

And by this afternoon, forecasters said, the rain should have cleared the Southland and ushered in sunny skies.

“By late Wednesday and certainly by Thursday you’ll be looking at really nice weather,” said Mike Smith, a meteorologist at WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “The low-pressure system that brought this rain is moving out, and you’ll have a beautiful weekend coming up with highs in the upper 60s to mid-70s and no rain.”

The high in Orange County was 66 in Santa Ana Tuesday and the low was 51 in El Toro.

If there was little rain in Orange County Tuesday, there was even less in downtown Los Angeles, where the .04 of an inch of rain recorded at the Civic Center was in sharp contrast to Monday’s storm, which produced up to about 2 inches in some of the mountainous areas of northern Los Angeles County.

But Monday’s storm and its attendant flooding and traffic snarls were child’s play contrasted with a deluge that slammed into the Los Angeles area 50 years ago today.

6.29 Inches of Rain

That storm was of historic proportions, dumping 6.29 inches of rain on the area in one day, driving thousands from their homes, sweeping away bridges, killing more than two dozen people and causing property damage in the millions.

Even with Monday’s storm, the Southland still is running well behind the normal rain level for this time of the year, according to WeatherData’s Smith.

The rain total for the season, which began July 1, now stands at 8.85 inches against a normal level of 11.16 inches, Smith said. However, he added, this year’s total is still about 2 inches more than had fallen by the same time a year ago.

Rainfall during February totaled 1.72 inches at the Civic Center, the National Weather Service said. That is 1.24 inches below normal for the month, forecasters pointed out.

Smith said the intensity of Monday’s storm caught him a little by surprise.

“I don’t think we saw it would be quite as heavy as it was,” he said. “It’s late in the season for that sort of thing, but not unusual.”

The storm also produced expected humidity--in the 74% to 100% range Monday and Tuesday.

By Tuesday, though, the moisture had all but disappeared although a few more showers were possible overnight because of a low-pressure system moving south-southeast from San Francisco, Smith said.

Gusty Winds Expected

Gusty north-to-northwest winds up to 25 m.p.h. are also expected to develop as high pressure reasserts itself over the western states, the National Weather Service said.

The rest of the week definitely looks encouraging for outdoor activities, Smith said.

Elsewhere Tuesday, heavy snow fell in California’s Sierra Nevada, Shasta and Siskiyou ranges on a generally gray day in most of the West.

Meanwhile, 38 tenants evacuated Monday from a downtown Los Angeles apartment building when rain began leaking through their ceilings were allowed to return to the building Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross said. The residents had been housed Monday night at a Red Cross center set up at Belmont High School.