Sunny Skies Forecast for the Weekend

Upstaged earlier this week by an unusual show of thunder, lightning and scattered showers, the sun returned Friday to Orange County and set the stage for what weather forecasters expect to be a pretty typical September weekend.

“Today was a great day for the beach,” Huntington Beach Lifeguard David Cavener said. “The water is really warm, the surf is getting better. This would be a good weekend to hit the beach.”

The midweek storm left some moisture in the air, causing Friday’s temperatures to drop a couple of degrees, said Dan Bowman, a meteorologist for WeatherData, which provides weather forecasts for The Times.

“It was just a little bit cooler than normal,” Bowman said, “but we still had plenty of sunshine.”

Weekend skies should be fair and dry, he added, with gentle sea breezes sweeping across the coast in the afternoon.

“It looks like a really nice weekend coming up for anything--going to the mountains or the beaches,” he said.

The weekend forecast calls for high temperatures in the upper 60s along the coast and mid-80s inland. Lows at night are expected to be in the low to mid-60s, Bowman said.

“Nothing significant as far as bothering folks,” he said.

Disappointed by an unusually cool and cloudy summer, Newport Beach Marine Safety Officer Eric Bauer said he is hoping September does not usher in an early winter.

“The fall is the best time of the year at the beach because usually there’s some warmer weather and people have gone back to school or work,” he said.

“We could have an early winter, but maybe we will have in Indian summer on the beach,” he said.