County to Hit Dry Spell After 2 Wet Weeks

Sudden showers ambushed Orange County residents who were lured outside Sunday by the deceptive sunshine.

Periodic light rains unleashed by the tail end of a Pacific storm dropped less than a third of an inch of precipitation in most cities. Ominous gray clouds alternated with bright sunshine, signaling what forecasters said is a likely respite--at least for a few days--from the storm pattern that pounded the county for nearly two weeks.

“No matter what, I’d still rather be here,” said Betty Brown, 60, who was visiting Laguna Beach from her hometown near Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday. “It’s still warm. And it beats the snow.”

In Newport Beach, city workers cleaned up litter left on beaches by a waste water spill last week. Some beaches remained closed Sunday, two days after torrential rains caused rushing water to break a pipeline and send 1 million gallons of effluent into Newport Bay.

“We have a lot of debris like logs, weeds, tires--anything that was in the (San Diego) Creek,” Marine Safety Officer Brent Jacobsen said. City crews are “playing catch-up now. But at least it sounds like it’s going to mellow out later this week.”

Forecasters are equally optimistic that the county will get a rest from the winter storms.

“We expect it to be partly cloudy Monday and much of the rest of the week,” said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Weather systems are anticipated to move toward the north as a ridge of high pressure strengthens over the West Coast. WeatherData forecasters expect the next storm system to arrive in California by Friday, with a chance of rain for Orange County that day.

“It’s kind of a relief,” said Ignacio Hernandez, manager of a Beacon Bay Auto Wash in Newport Beach. “When it stops raining, business is up.”

On Saturday night and Sunday, though, intermittent showers sprinkled throughout the county.

Between 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, San Juan Capistrano reported .44 of an inch of rain and Dana Point had .32, Brack said. Anaheim had .16, and .18 of an inch fell in Santa Ana.

So far this rain season, Santa Ana has reported 12.25 inches of precipitation, Brack said. That is a dramatic rise over last season, when the parched county seat had received 1.70 inches of rain by the same date. The normal rainfall level is 5.13 inches.

Despite rain that sporadically pounded umbrellas and made some drivers crank their windshield wipers up to high Sunday, visitors to Laguna Beach stopped to sightsee and check out the damage caused by last week’s storms.

Brown clicked photographs of Laguna Beach’s torn-up boardwalk with her instant camera.

“We enjoy it here, even with the rain,” said Brown, whose previous visit to California included being rocked by the Northridge earthquake. “As soon as the sun comes out it’s warm--and you don’t even have to wear a jacket.”

Coral and Janny Adamson, two sisters, took refuge from the drizzle at a coffee shop, where they chatted over a few cafe lattes .

“We’re here (in Laguna Beach) exchanging Christmas clothes,” Janny Adamson said. “You know, a woman’s strong need to shop makes you go out in any weather.”

Coral Adamson found a positive spin to the rain: “It’s amazingly empty here; you can park anywhere.”

Sprinkles didn’t keep a few hardy regulars from showing up for pick-up basketball games, despite puddles on the courts. “It’s great to get some rays,” said Leo Hoffer, 49, kicking off his basketball shoes after a game.

But just as quickly as the sun peeked out Sunday afternoon, it hid once again and rain began in earnest.

“I left Oregon to get out of the rain,” said Lisa Kechitkan, who is on a brief vacation from her home in Portland. “This is just not what Southern California’s supposed to be all about.”