National Weather Service forecasters predict the warm, dry weather will continue through Saturday, when high pressure is expected to give way a low- pressure system that should produce measurable rain on Monday, with much-needed rainfall continuing on and off through Wednesday morning.
Since July 1, less than a half-inch of rain has fallen in downtown, well behind the norm of 1.78 inches for this time of year.
NWS forecasters credit back-to-back high-pressure systems for the warm spell. Clockwise winds rotating around the high produce winds out of the north and northeast that cause compressional heating. Metro area temperatures rise as winds out of the high desert sweep over the mountains and fall into the Los Angeles Basin.
Friday should be nearly as warm as Thursday, but low clouds and fog are predicted to return Saturday, when highs are predicted to top out in the 60s and 70s.
By Sunday evening, increasing cloud cover will produce a 20 percent chance of rain. Overcast conditions are expected Monday, with the chance of rain increasing to 50 percent by Monday evening.
— City News Service