Warmer weather in store this weekend for Southland

Showers and thunderstorms remained a possibility Thursday for Southland mountains and deserts, while the precipitation threat shifted north -- away from downtown Los Angeles and the coast -- toward Santa Barbara County.

The National Weather Service predicted that a high-pressure system would arrive in the Los Angeles area this weekend, bringing higher temperatures and clearing skies of high clouds. 

Humid remnants of Tropical Storm John helped firefighters gain ground Thursday on the 4,000-plus-acre Williams fire in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles. The blaze was expected to be fully surrounded by Sept. 13.  

"They got a good handle on that Williams fire," said Stuart Seto, weather specialist with the National Weather Service.

In downtown Los Angeles, temperatures Thursday afternoon were in the high 80s with a relative humidity of 35%. Burbank was showing similar temperatures and humidity of 37%.

Saturday is expected to be sunny, with seasonal highs from the 70s at the beaches to the mid-80s to lower 90s inland. Saturday night and Sunday are expected to be mostly clear, with lows in the 60s and, again, highs from the 70s at the beaches to the mid-80s and lower 90s inland.

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-- Martha Groves