Just Wait Till Tuesday for Break In the Clouds

More cloudy skies and a chance of sprinkles are forecast for today, following a Mother’s Day on Sunday that had generally gloomy weather for most of Orange County.

“There will be a chance for showers most of Monday (in Orange County), but it should start to clear on Tuesday,” said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather information for The Times.

“What’s been going on is an upper-atmosphere low pressure area over Central California that’s been moving in a southwesterly direction towards Southern California. As this low continues to circulate, it’s brought unstable weather and overcast skies, and it’s continuing to produce a chance for showers.”

Dittmann said that any rain that does come today in Orange County will be light and fitful, much like the precipitation in parts of the county on Sunday.

Light rain dampened parts of the county on Sunday morning, ranging from southeast Huntington Beach southward to San Clemente. Inland areas, including Fullerton, had no rain but also no sun. Skies were overcast all day and temperatures were unusually cool for late May.

Police and fire officials said the rain was so light and spotty that it caused virtually no problems--not even fender benders. The light rain’s major effect was to drape the skies and hide the sun most of Mother’s Day.

There were some exceptions. In Seal Beach, the sun broke through about noon on Sunday, and the continued to shine brightly most of the afternoon, reported lifeguard Chief Tim Dorsey.

“It’s been absolutely gorgeous this afternoon,” Dorsey said. “We’re in a halo effect. The sun is shining here in Seal Beach, but clouds are all around us. It’s as if you were looking down on a flower vase, and Seal Beach is the center of the vase with sun, and the rim of the vase is all cloudy. We’ve had a lot of swimmers and surfers here today, and the pier is loaded with people.”

Mid-Afternoon Sun

Huntington Beach also had some sun in mid-afternoon, but most of the day was “real gloomy and cool,” said Steve Davidson, a marine safety lieutenant at the city beach.

“The crowd has been negligible today--a very low turnout,” Davidson said. “I’d say we only had about 2,000 people today.” On a normal Sunday in late May, the crowds would be up to 20,000 people, Davidson said.

In San Clemente, overcast skies predominated most of the day. “It’s been a dismal day,” said San Clemente Lifeguard Dan Sforza. He said the temperature at the beach about 3 p.m. was only 60 degrees, with the water temperature slightly higher, at 64. “It was good for the surfers, but the sky was overcast, and only a minimal crowd was on the beach today.”

In Dana Point, Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy John Holani of the Harbor Patrol reported that “there was light rain about 8 a.m., for no more than a half hour.” He said the sky remained overcast in the area throughout the day “with very few people at the harbor, not nearly as crowded as on sunny days.”

Officials at the Orange County Fire Department said the light rain caused no problems. Steve Rahn, a fire communications dispatcher, said that when there are significant amounts of rain, the Fire Department gets increased calls for paramedics because of traffic accidents. Rahn said there were no such weather-related traffic phenomena on Sunday.

The California Highway Patrol similarly said no traffic problems emerged because of the light rain. “There were just a few scattered showers through parts of the county,” said a CHP dispatcher on Sunday afternoon. “There was no increase in accidents, and actually it’s been kind of quiet all day,” he said.

Unusually Cool

n Fullerton, Fire Department Battalion Chief Van Goyne said: “I’ve been roaming the city most of the day, and I haven’t seen any rain. But it’s been overcast and cool most of the day. It’s been unusually cool for this time of year. And it’s just been sort of a gloomy day.”

WeatherData’s Dittmann also characterized Sunday’s weather in Orange County as being generally gloomy. But he said that by Tuesday the sun should be shining again most of the day “and the weather will be back to its normal (late May) pattern.”