Rain brings slick roads, little else

Greg Risling

NEWPORT-MESA -- It’s been 122 days since this area last saw rain.

For the third time in seven months, light rain sprinkled across Orange

County, leaving behind slicked roads and cool breezes.

The storm drenched most of northern and central California, but was

relatively weak here. Newport Beach lifeguards reported 0.15 inches of

rain in the storm’s five-hour span Monday. Compared to Santa Barbara,

where more than an inch of rain fell, county residents had little to

complain about.

“We got the tail end of the storm,” said Brandt Maxwell, a meteorologist

for the National Weather Service. “The center of the storm was too far

north and was weakening by the time it got down here.”

There were no reports of any major traffic accidents in Newport Beach or

Costa Mesa. The unstable weather also didn’t have an effect on surf

conditions. Lifeguards reported surf was between two and three feet.

The Orange County Health Care Agency issued its usual beach advisory

Monday, warning swimmers to stay away from water close to storm drains

and river outlets because of high levels of bacteria.

Two weeks ago, residents were basking in the warm sun, but temperatures

have dropped gradually over the last three weeks. Thermometers that

reached the high 80s in coastal areas last month have dropped into the

60s and low 70s.

Matthew Moore of Laguna Niguel, who was keeping dry at Fashion Island,

welcomed the change in weather.

“I like to see it rain once in a while,” he said. “Who wants it sunny all

of the time? That’s not any fun.”

The last time it rained was July 8, when rain and warm temperatures

combined for monsoon-like conditions. Only 0.06 inches of rain fell at

that time. Prior to that light sprinkle, the last storm in Orange County

was on April Fool’s Day.

Meteorologists said conditions should be fair until the weekend, but a

storm currently over the Pacific Ocean may bring rain late Sunday or

early next week.