Half-Inch of Rain Expected for O.C. in Weekend Storm

The first substantial storm of the season began moving into Southern California on Friday night, bringing a good chance of rain today and Sunday.

Forecasters said about half an inch should fall in Orange County, with perhaps twice that much in the foothills and mountains, before the storm moves to the east sometime Sunday afternoon.

It’s a warm storm system, born over the mid-Pacific near Hawaii, so there won’t be the mountain snowfalls associated with the chilly systems that often arrive later in the fall from the Gulf of Alaska, officials said.

James McCutcheon, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said Friday that the large stream of subtropical moisture was being pulled into the Southland by winds circulating counterclockwise around another, smaller storm system to the north.

Rain should start falling here before dawn today, McCutcheon said, with widespread showers continuing through the day.

He said the rain should begin tapering off by tonight, with a few lingering showers through Sunday morning.

Temperatures are expected to remain comfortable through the weekend, with overnight lows in the upper 50s and low 60s and highs ranging from the upper 60s along the coast to the mid-70s in the inland valleys.

Forecasters said it will be mostly sunny on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, except for some fog and low clouds along the coast in the late night and early morning hours.

Times staff writer Eric Young contributed to this report.