Autumn Will Debut on the Warm Side

Autumn will ease into Southern California this weekend behind a camouflage of sunny skies and rising temperatures, the National Weather Service said.

A storm system that filled the final days of summer with cold wind and thundershowers was growling into oblivion through Arizona and New Mexico on Thursday, and meteorologists said its like may not be seen again here--at least for a while.

Another weak low-pressure system was hovering off the coast of Oregon, apparently on track for Central California, but forecasters said it should produce nothing more fearsome than a little variable cloudiness along the coast and in the mountains.

Warming Trend

Meanwhile, a warming trend was already making itself felt.

Temperatures at Los Angeles Civic Center reached a high of 77 degrees Thursday, with relative humidity ranging from 42% to 70%. And the Weather Service said it should be four or five degrees warmer today, with the trend continuing into the weekend.

Orange County was slightly warmer, with Santa Ana recording a high of 79 after a brisk overnight low of 55. At the beaches, the high temperature was 74.

Surf should be up today--particularly on south-facing beaches--with breakers to six feet on a 14-second interval and only a slight calming predicted through the weekend. Water temperature was expected to be in the mid-60s, seven or eight degrees cooler than the air, with a sea breeze rising to 16 m.p.h. in early afternoon.

Variable winds were expected to become west to southwest and rise to 18 knots at times over the inner waters from Point Conception to the Mexican border, while yachtsmen venturing farther out can look for west-to-northwest winds of 15 knots in the afternoon, with combined seas to eight feet.

Mountain resorts throughout the southern half of the state were expecting a little variable cloudiness with highs in the mid-60s and overnight lows in the 40s, while the forecast called for northern desert temperatures to reach the lower 80s, with the southern deserts five or six degrees warmer.

Scattered showers and thundershowers that continued to afflict southeast Arizona on Thursday could hang around at scattered points in that state’s mountains today and Saturday, the forecasters said. But deserts should be mostly sunny, with highs into the 90s. And much the same was predicted for the weekend in Las Vegas and vicinity.

San Francisco was expecting morning low clouds and fog along the coast, turning partly cloudy to sunny in the afternoon, with temperatures to the mid-70s.

And the Weather Service said Ensenada weekenders should find a little morning cloudiness giving way to clear skies today, turning a bit cloudier and cooler by Saturday, with highs in the middle to lower 70s.