Cool Day Sets a Record; Gray Skies to Continue

It was the coldest July 16 on record Thursday in downtown Los Angeles as forecasters said the unseasonal gray skies will persist through a cool weekend and probably bring a few more sprinkles here and there.

The Civic Center high of 70 was three degrees under the previous record low maximum set in 1914, the National Weather Service said. Relative humidity ranged from 96% down to 76%.

Heavy thundershowers were scattered widely across the Southland--particularly in the deserts and mountains--on Thursday, but were expected to tail off as drier air flows in from the southwest.

Santa Ana reported .02 of an inch of rain and San Bernardino had .01. There were traces at Los Angeles International Airport, Long Beach, El Toro, Woodland Hills, Riverside, Palm Springs, Avalon and other points.

The weather service said Southern California should be “cooler than normal” for the next few days, with night and morning low clouds and local drizzles. Afternoons should be mostly sunny.

The weather service said downtown Los Angeles high temperatures today and Saturday probably will be in the mid-70s. The beaches will be in the high 60s and the valleys in the upper 70s to lower 80s. The deserts and mountains are due for gusty westerly winds.

Matt Sullivan of the Earth Environment Service, a private forecasting service based in San Francisco, said the unseasonable coolness is being caused by an upper-level disturbance settling in over the Pacific Northwest.

“It really is an unusual pattern for the middle of summer,” he observed without apparent fear of contradiction.

Thursday’s thunderstorms also ranged across southern Nevada and most of Arizona. Campers and travelers were warned to watch for spot flooding, lightning, stiff winds and hail. A small tornado was reported about 75 miles northwest of Las Vegas.