Winds Expected to Rise as Rainfall Drifts Away

The rain that pattered into the Los Angeles Basin on Wednesday afternoon to slick down streets and get a chokehold on holiday eve getaway traffic will probably be gone by this morning, said the forecasters--but some hats may be blown off today.

“Behind the cold front it’s quite windy,” said meteorologist Patricia Cooper of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “There may be a few clouds, but the big concern will be the wind.”

Even as the rain began to drift away Wednesday night, winds gusting to 30 m.p.h. were already being reported in Southland mountains, while 35 m.p.h. gusts were causing visibility problems by blowing sand around in the deserts.

The mountains and deserts may get some leftover shower activity today, Cooper said. Snow was expected above the 5,000-foot level.

As for the weekend, Cooper predicted: “The weather is going to be improving. Clear skies will be back, but it’s still going to be rather windy.”

The National Weather Service foresaw gusty west to northwest winds up to 25 m.p.h. today and Friday with Los Angeles high temperatures 62 to 66 degrees and overnight lows 46 to 52. It should be slightly warmer by Saturday, forecasters said, with winds below the canyons decreasing on Sunday.

Wednesday’s Civic Center high was 65 after a low of 51. Relative humidity ranged from 93% to 57%.

By 7 p.m., .13 of an inch of rain had fallen at Los Angeles International Airport, while .19 of an inch had been recorded at Long Beach. Fog was also hampering motorists in the basin.

As usual on the day before a major holiday, downtown Los Angeles streets were bumper-to-bumper by late afternoon as folks headed for the exits. By 4 p.m., Central Division Traffic Officer Jim Edge said there had been double the number of accidents reported on an average business day.

Traffic around Los Angeles International Airport was “moderate to heavy,” police said.

Because of the rain, the California Highway Patrol postponed a scheduled Wednesday evening sobriety checkpoint, but said they would still be out in force looking for drunk drivers.

In the meantime, a winter storm system was dawdling over the Sierra Nevada, prompting forecasts of snow down to the 6,000-foot level from Yosemite south. Another weather system was expected to move into Northern California today, spreading rain and snow into Central California by early Friday.

Offshore winds of 20 to 30 knots probably will stir 6-foot seas today, prompting a small craft advisory from Point Conception to San Clemente Island.