Raindrops Were Falling on Year’s End

Spotty rain fell in Orange County to welcome the New Year, and at least one small waterspout provided nature’s own spin to the end of the millennium.

The waterspout, seen about 3:15 p.m. Friday off Newport Beach, blew itself out before coming ashore, according to the National Weather Service.

Partly cloudy skies were expected today with northwest winds at 10 to 20 mph, said Guy Pearson of WeatherData, which reports weather for The Times. It will be intermittently breezy in canyons and passes with temperatures in the mid-60s along the coast and into the upper 60s inland.

The rain stuck mostly along the coast Friday and was associated with a cold upper-level disturbance that forced moisture out of the lower levels of the atmosphere, he said. The lack of sun and the cooler air associated with the disturbance drove temperatures into the 50s.

The daytime drizzle was the first rain since Nov. 20. Rainfall totals were not available.

The California Highway Patrol reported a small increase in accidents due to the rain in areas where pavement was slicked. On the Riverside Freeway, a truck hauling a container skidded and overturned. But traffic was so light that the accident caused only modest delays.

Runoff from the rain soaked the carpet inside a 50-foot-by-50-foot tent at Villa Park City Hall. The tent was the centerpiece of the town’s millennium celebrations. The Orange County Fire Authority sucked the water from the tent and surrounded it with sandbags to prevent further damage.

The welcome rain was too light to affect the fire conditions throughout the region, officials said.

“The drizzle doesn’t mean much of anything,” said Capt. Paul Hunter, spokesman for the Fire Authority. “It’s good that it’s overcast and there’s moisture in the air, but in the long run this doesn’t make any difference in terms of the land fire danger that’s out there.”

For the fire danger to abate, the area would need 3 to 4 inches over a week or so, he said. That would allow plants to fully replenish their internal moisture, which is extremely low.

A sudden downpour wouldn’t help, he said, because the water would just run off.