Weekend Looks Cool, Cloudy--and Maybe Even Wet

Read a book. Clean the kitchen. Carve a pumpkin.

Weather forecasters are predicting a cool and cloudy weekend, with showers possible this morning and Sunday night.

“It’s a typical rainy-season weather pattern,” said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “But usually, this happens more toward late November and early December.”

The gray clouds, which began producing some drizzle in the Southland late Friday morning, are the result of a cold front making its way south from the Gulf of Alaska, Dittmann said.

“It’s a vigorous pattern for this time of year,” he said. “But it doesn’t look like heavy rain.”

The chance of showers this morning was 40% over Orange County metropolitan areas and 30% from Laguna Beach south, forecasters said, with winds at 15 to 20 m.p.h. from the west and southwest. Any showers are expected to taper off by the afternoon.

Patchy early-morning fog was expected to give way to partly cloudy skies through Sunday evening, when the chance of drizzle will again increase to 30% to 40%.

Friday’s highs in Orange County ranged from 67 degrees in Newport Beach to 81 in Anaheim. Thursday’s overnight lows ranged from 65 degrees in San Juan Capistrano to 63 degrees in Anaheim, El Toro and Newport Beach, according to the National Weather Service.

High temperatures today are expected to be in the upper 60s to low 70s in Orange County, with lows tonight in the mid-50s to low 60s. On Sunday, highs are expected to range from the upper 60s to mid-70s.

On Monday, Dittmann said, “the weather pattern will remain unsettled with clouds and cooler temperatures.”

Showers are again possible on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, forecasters say, blue skies may finally return.

But for those who haven’t yet finished reading those books, cleaning those kitchens or carving those pumpkins, don’t worry. There will be no reason to flock to the beach. Temperatures on Wednesday, forecasters say, should remain in the mid-60s to mid-70s.