SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / A news summary : The Local Review / DEVELOPMENTS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Showers Expected From Storm’s Remnants

The lingering remnants of onetime Hurricane Hilary began drifting over Southern California Tuesday, dropping warm, scattered rain showers that are expected to continue for the next couple of days.

“The showers and thundershowers will be brief, but sometimes intense,” said Guy Pearson, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “Most areas around Los Angeles probably will see some measurable rain today, but not a lot of it.”

Pearson said Hilary, which grew to a full-fledged hurricane off the west coast of Central America on Sunday, started losing intensity as it moved steadily north over ever cooler ocean waters. By Monday, it was downgraded to a tropical storm, and by Tuesday it was only a tropical depression.

Centered Tuesday afternoon off the shore of central Baja California, the spinning low-pressure system that remained was expected to pump moist tropical air into Southern California until Thursday before dissipating altogether.

Pearson said showers should taper off by Thursday afternoon, with mostly clear skies through the weekend after a few morning clouds along the coast.

It will remain warm and muggy through Thursday, with high temperatures in the Los Angeles Basin ranging from the mid-70s to the mid-90s during the day, followed by overnight lows in the mid to upper 60s. Daytime highs will be about the same on Friday and Saturday, but the weather should be more comfortable as the relative humidity and overnight temperatures drop.