New Storm Brings Rain, Nervousness About Mudslides

Scattered light rain hit sections of Orange County on Sunday night, causing nervousness in beleaguered Laguna Beach, and the storm was expected to grow stronger today.

“There’s a good chance of rain for today,” said James McCutcheon, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecast information for The Times. He said rainfall Sunday was light to moderate.

In all, there will be anywhere from one-fourth of an inch to one-third of an inch of rain along the coast by tonight, and up to half an inch of rain in the mountains, he predicted.

“We are possibly looking at rain into (tonight),” said McCutcheon, who monitors the weather out of Wichita, Kan.

“On Tuesday, it will be partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers,” he said. “But the storm total, at most, should probably not be more than a half-inch.”

The chance of rain has renewed concern that Laguna Beach, where 366 homes were destroyed by fire late last month, could be hit with more mudslides, but late Sunday, the city’s police officials said there were no reports of problems.

“We’ve just had sprinkles off and on,” said Hilda Madrid, who works in the police department’s records division. “We haven’t seen any of the nasty stuff yet. We’re expecting more rain Monday.”

Mudslides and flooding that occurred 10 days ago after more than half an inch of rain caused an estimated $45,000 in damage to 13 homes and an estimated $500,000 in damage to the Irvine Bowl, home of the annual Pageant of the Masters.

Sgt. Gerald Meyer of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Sunday night that no weather-related accidents had been reported.

The National Weather Service said that today would be mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of rain, and the temperature would range from the upper 60s during the day to the lower to middle 50s at night. There will also be a 40% chance of rain on Tuesday morning but only a 20% chance by Tuesday evening.

On Thanksgiving, the forecast is for a sunny day with highs in the lower 70s, the weather service said.