Rainy Season Starts With Light Moisture in L.A.

Not enough to shut down the national pastime. Not enough to open up the national forest.

That’s the word on the rain that began lightly falling Friday across the Los Angeles area and is expected to move out of the region by this afternoon.

There is a 40% chance of rain this morning, but it should taper off before today’s 5 p.m. start of Game 6 of the World Series at Edison International Field in Anaheim.

“Hopefully we won’t see rain during the game,” said Tim McClung, a National Weather Service meteorologist. If there is rain, “I don’t believe there will be a delay in the game. And certainly no cancellation.”

Barely measurable rainfall--in the hundredths of an inch--was recorded at some sites around the Southland during the midafternoon Friday. The moisture was enough to bring oil to the surface of streets and freeways and cause a spate of fender-benders.

But it was far short of the 2 inches needed to end the fire danger in the Angeles National Forest and portions of the Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino national forests. Forest Service officials have closed those areas to the public because of the hazard.

“We have our raindrop counters out, and so far it’s not really pouring,” said Robert Brady, an Angeles National Forest spokesman in Arcadia, where Friday afternoon’s rain was barely enough to wet the streets.

“We’d like to see one good storm spread out over two or three days so it gets moisture that stays in the bushes and the ground. We don’t want it all at once. That wouldn’t be good for the burn areas above Glendora,” he said.

A deluge in 1960 that dropped about 5 inches of rain on fire-scorched hillsides above the community over 12 hours caused flooding and mudslides that damaged Glendora homes on several streets, Brady said.

Although weather experts Friday were watching Hurricane Kenna off the coast of Mexico, forecasters predicted that it would veer east and not affect Southern California.

Tonight and Sunday should be partly cloudy, they said, but Sunday night should be clear and Monday mostly sunny, except for coastal areas, where there will be patchy morning clouds and fog.

High temperatures should be in the 60s today, the 70s on Sunday and about 80 on Monday, forecasters said.