Cool Start to Memorial Day Weekend

   The start of Memorial Day weekend will be cool across Southern California, thanks to a deep low-pressure system that is expected to produced a stiff ocean breeze, a dusting of snow in the high country and high temperatures of only about 70 degrees in the Los Angeles Basin.
   The strong winds that raked the region Friday started slacking
overnight, and the National Weather Service let wind high wind warnings for the
mountains and deserts expire at 3 a.m. A lower level wind advisory for the
mountains and deserts, signifying sustained winds of about 35 mph, will be in
effect until noon.
   Along the coast, an onshore breeze out of the southwest was forecast to
peak around 15 mph this afternoon.
   The winds should be calmer in the valleys, where highs are forecast to
be in the low 70s.
   Highs along the coast will be in the mid 60s, with the sun rising about
5:45 a.m.
   The normal high for downtown Los Angeles this time of year is about 75
degrees.
   Mariners should be aware that it will be rough on the ocean. A small
craft advisory is in effect this morning, and gale force winds are possible
across coastal waters early today, with breakers up to 9 feet possible on west-
facing beaches. Strong rip tides are predicted. The ocean temperature is about
64 degrees.
   At elevations of 6,500 feet or more, a dusting of snow was forecast to
fall overnight. The southern Sierra Nevada got snow early Friday.
   In the high desert, winds out of the west are forecast to be gusting up
to 45 mph this afternoon, with the strongest near the foothills.
   Today, which will start out foggy, may not be a great beach day, but
Sunday afternoon should be nice. After the morning fog and low clouds burn off, Sunday beach highs should break into 70s. Valley highs on Sunday will be in the mid-80s. The upper-level low that stirred up the weather over the past
couple of days will be moving east today.
   Monday -- Memorial Day -- should be a pretty typical late spring day,
with fog and low clouds and the morning and blue skies and highs ranging from
the mid 60s to the mid 80s.
   Despite a few late-season storms, Southern California will have had a
drier-than-normal rainy season, with only about 8.7 inches on rain on the books so far. Los Angeles typically gets about 15 inches per year.