Drizzle Dampens Here, There : Weather: Clearing predicted today with cool weather, clouds and more rain possible on weekend.

Under a blanket of low clouds, a light morning drizzle descended on pockets of Orange County on Wednesday morning as part of a weather system that will produce clearer skies today but provide little relief to fire officials who remain wary of the county’s high fire risk.

Meteorologists said traces of rainfall, reported in areas from Costa Mesa to Newport Beach to El Toro, did not register more than .04 inch in any one place. But it was enough to make things dreary enough, with low clouds hovering over much of the county through midmorning and cooling things off considerably.

“There should be a clearing trend tonight and (Thursday),” said meteorologist Steve Burback of WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

Today’s high temperatures are expected to be around 70 degrees with lows in the 50s, according to the National Weather Service. The morning will be slightly cloudy before clearing in the afternoon.

Wednesday’s light, brief rainfall was created by the tail end of a storm that moved south from the Pacific Northwest earlier this week.

“We’re getting the weakest part of a storm” that brought heavy rains to Washington and Oregon and snow to Montana this week, said Scott Entrekin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.

“There are lots of low clouds and fog ahead of the storm,” said Burback. “When the clouds are thick enough, drizzle will fall out.”

Temperatures Wednesday ranged from a high of 75 degrees in El Toro to a low in Irvine of 56.

For Friday, it will be overcast most of the day, and the weekend may bring slightly cooler temperatures, cloudy mornings and a repeat of light drizzle, Burback predicted.

Fire officials said the county needs much more rain to lessen the threat of a fire like the inferno that raged through the dry Oakland and Berkeley hills this week, killing 19 people.

“There hasn’t been enough rainfall to change the risk. We’re still in a five-year drought,” said Maria Sabol, a spokeswoman with the Orange County Fire Department in Orange. “If there are winds and it’s dry, then the danger level is going to be there. All it takes is Santa Ana winds and then the fire could spread quickly.”