Heavy Cover of Clouds Will Keep Lid on Temperatures

Heavy cloud cover will keep temperatures in the Los Angeles Basin from mild to warm over the weekend, and even the deserts will be less searing than they could be, forecasters said.

Night and morning clouds will linger a bit longer than usual, perhaps longer than sun worshipers would like at this time of year. When they do burn off, the sun will still have to fight its way through hazy, skies.

“An upper-level low-pressure system over the Pacific is rotating high clouds into California,” said Dave Beusterien, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. A northward flow of moist air could supply additional moisture for potential thunderstorms in the Southern California mountains and deserts, he said.

Weekend temperatures along the coast will range from the upper-60s to the low 70s. The Los Angeles Civic Center will see highs in the low 80s, and inland valleys will have highs between the low 80s and the low 90s.

Desert areas will surpass 100 degrees in some areas, but Beusterien said the cloud cover has kept temperatures lower than they could be at this time of year. Northern deserts will reach highs in the low 90s, and the mercury will top out in the southern deserts from the mid-90s to 105.