A Little More Rain May Be on the Way

A patchy cotton field of clouds drifted in from the sea Tuesday in the wake of a cold front that scattered showers across Southern California, and the National Weather Service said a few more drops of rain might fall late today.

Cloudiness was expected to increase, blotting out the last traces of sunshine by early afternoon, and forecasters said there was at least a 20% chance of light showers before Thursday morning.

A weak storm system, the weather service explained, was spotted heading eastward toward the Central California coast. The system was expected to come ashore today, reaching Southern California by afternoon.

But any moisture it brings should be the last for a while, according to meteorologists, who predicted fair skies and slightly warmer temperatures for the rest of the week as atmospheric pressure increases along the coast.

Monday’s storm dropped .45 of an inch of moisture at San Juan Capistrano, .04 at El Toro, .05 at Newport Beach, .24 on downtown Los Angeles, .87 inch at Beaumont, .46 inch at Torrance, .35 inch at Riverside and .29 at Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.

A north swell cascaded onto Orange County beaches Tuesday morning during a 6 1/2-foot high tide. The high tide will reach 6.2 feet shortly after 10 a.m. today.

The high temperature at Los Angeles Civic Center on Tuesday was 62 degrees with relative humidity ranging from 44% to 83%. The forecast called for about the same today.