Storms Just a Memory as L.A. Mercury Hits a Summery 88
Midwinter turned to summer--again--in Southern California on Sunday.
Pacific storms that had poured, and threatened, for the last week or so seemed no more than an unpleasant memory as warm Santa Ana winds pushed the temperature to within two degrees of a record in downtown Los Angeles, and scrubbed the skies to a clear and smiling blue.
What’s more, the National Weather Service said it should stay this way for awhile.
Meteorologists explained that a high-pressure system is building over Nevada while a similar system guards the coastline from incoming weather systems, and the inland pressure has begun to push dry, well-heated desert air westward.
North to northeast (Santa Ana) winds of 15 to 25 m.p.h.--with gusts to 35 m.p.h. in some exposed areas--will be blowing through the valleys and out to the ocean today, forecasters said.
Lifeguards said about 400,000 people seized the change in weather and spent Sunday at beaches from Zuma to Newport.
High temperature at Los Angeles Civic Center Sunday was 88 degrees, with relative humidity ranging from 52% in the early morning to 17% by mid-afternoon. The forecast said it would be just as warm today--with more of the same to come until Friday.
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