Rain to Arrive Early and Will Spend the Day

The forecast calls for rain to beat commuters into Los Angeles this morning, starting at daybreak and making the morning rush hour soggy and cold.

The storm should last through most of the day, but it will not drench the Southland like the rains of the last two weeks.

Less than an inch of precipitation is forecast in coastal areas.

The storm, which was moving down the coast from the Gulf of Alaska, was expected to bring from six inches to a foot of snow to local mountain regions above the 4,000-foot level tonight. Snow was predicted at elevations as low as 1,000 feet in Northern California and to 2,000 feet in the central Sierra Nevada.

High temperatures throughout the Los Angeles Basin will be about 60 degrees today and fall to the 40s overnight.

“It doesn’t appear to be a heavy storm,” said Steve Burback, meteorologist with Weather Data Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “But it is unusual for this time of year, more like a winter storm.”

The low-pressure system should head out Tuesday, leaving some colder temperatures and “pretty strong” winds, Burback said. Highs will not get above the 50s and will be accompanied by 30-m.p.h. wind gusts.

Sunshine should prevail Wednesday, and a warming trend is predicted Thursday and Friday, with temperatures climbing back into the 60s and possibly low 70s.

The March storms have helped boost the area’s rainfall to about 80% of normal for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service. Since July 1, 10.16 inches of rain have fallen at the Civic Center.

However, water authorities late last week, noting that runoff prospects from the Sierra and Cascade ranges remain less than half of normal, were still cautioning that the state remains in a drought situation.

Metropolitan Water District officials said last week that when MWD’s board meets April 9, it will still be pushing for rationing, but it may be a more modest rationing level than the 50% approved March 4.