Rain May Dampen New Year’s Eve Party Plans

New Year’s Eve revelers should pack an umbrella and some warm clothes along with their party favors tonight as showers are predicted for most of the weekend, along with chilly overnight temperatures, forecasters said.

A slow-moving Pacific storm is expected to sweep down and blanket the area today and through most of Sunday, with a 50% chance of showers today and snow predicted in mountain areas above 4,000 feet.

“It’s not going to be a great weekend to be outdoors,” said Dan Bowman, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Showers are expected to taper off slightly New Year’s Day, with a 30% chance of rain, although skies will remain mostly cloudy. After a week of bone-chilling temperatures, the mercury should stay in the mid-50s for most of the weekend, with overnight lows in the low to mid-40s, Bowman said.

Friday’s high at Los Angeles Civic Center was 59 degrees with an overnight low of 39. The relative humidity ranged from 65% to 28%.

Meanwhile, area homeless shelters reopened Friday after weather forecasters predicted rain for Friday night. The emergency shelters, which have been sought out by hundreds of homeless people since a cold spell gripped the Southland during the last week, were closed Thursday after an overnight low of 42 degrees was predicted.

Under Los Angeles’ cold weather program, the city and county are required to open shelters to the homeless when temperatures drop below 40 degrees in dry weather or 50 degrees during rain.