Southland’s Days of Basking in Sun May Be Numbered

Southern California’s winter heat wave set temperature records for the second day in a row Saturday, but the National Weather Service said cooler and darker skies are on the way.

In Anaheim, the mercury reached 88 degrees, with similar temperatures reported throughout Orange County. At Huntington Beach, where the temperature was 80, about 30,000 people spent the day at the beach.

“It looked like a day in July,” said marine safety officer Steve Seim.

Elsewhere, the mercury rose to 87 degrees at the Los Angeles Civic Center, breaking the high temperature record for the day (83 degrees set in 1983), and the Weather Service said Saturday morning’s low of 62 degrees probably will break the record for the day’s highest minimum reading (60 degrees set in 1908).

High-Pressure Zone

Weather Service meteorologists attributed the warm weather to a strong high-pressure area centered over Nevada and Utah.

But relative humidity, which held a dry span from 28% to 14% Saturday, was expected to move toward 50% as the high-pressure area begins a slow eastward movement--and increasing cloudiness with the chance of occasional showers was expected by Tuesday at the latest.

Meanwhile, just about everybody seemed to enjoy the day.

Lifeguards said about 250,000 people visited beaches from Zuma to Newport on Saturday, though chilly water (58 degrees at Hermosa Beach, 61 at Long Beach, 57 at Huntington Beach) kept most of them on the sand.