For Some, the Clouds Are Lined With Gold

The cool weather and showers that have dampened Orange County in recent days haven’t disturbed Brad Gonzalez. The owner of Ultratan Tanning Centre in Huntington Beach looks at the bright side of the dreary days:

“When there’s rain, there’s no sun. When there’s no sun, people come to see us.”

And people have come to his salon--30% more than usual through Friday, he said.

Gonzalez isn’t the only salon operator whose business booms when sun seekers are driven indoors by cloudy beaches. Sundial Tan Inc. in Newport Beach reported more customers, and business was up 20-30% at Classic Tan in Corona del Mar.

“The rain makes us real busy, but we like it,” Classic Tan manager Alycia Marshall said.

The morning drizzles, unusual for Orange County in mid-July, are being caused by a low-pressure trough and warm air rising into cool air in the upper atmosphere, said Matt Sullivan, a meteorologist at Earth Environment Service in San Francisco.

Forecasts indicate continued coolness tonight, with the clouds breaking up and giving way to warmer weather on Sunday.

The wet weather has contributed to more accidents and slower traffic on freeways and has affected attendance at some outdoor events.

The California Highway Patrol office in Santa Ana has been busy, with twice as many accidents as normal, including a Friday fatality, public affairs officer Paul Caldwell said.

A 35-year-old man was struck and killed Friday morning after he lost control of his motorcycle on a rain-slick freeway.

The victim, Keith Silence, 35, of Riverside, was headed west in a transition lane from the Riverside (91) Freeway to the southbound Pomona Freeway when his motorcycle slid on the wet road. Silence was struck by a car driven by Stephen Doherty, 27, of Anaheim, the CHP said.

“We had a lot of collisions involving vehicles that slid off the road, usually near a curve,” Caldwell said Friday.

“People don’t take into account the slick roads. Most accidents are pretty minor in danger but tie traffic up, which aggravates an already bad situation.”

Other CHP officials in Orange County echoed those thoughts.

“We really didn’t have an increase in accidents, even though I was expecting one,” said Ken Daily, public affairs officer for the CHP’s San Juan Capistrano Area. “Everyone seems to be going slow enough to where it wasn’t a problem.”

At the Garden Grove Shakespeare Festival, artistic director Thomas Bradac said, ticket sales are off 5-10% for “Julius Caesar.”

“Our ticket sales are slow,” he said, “but the chances of us canceling are slim to none. Southern Californians, when it gets a little damp, aren’t too excited about watching outdoor theater. The audience tends to get a little weird when the weather’s a little inclement.”

Bradac said he expects a big crowd for the final show tonight, “but if the rain breaks up, we’ll do a little better.”

Orange County Fair officials said they expect a big weekend at the Costa Mesa fairgrounds, where there was record attendance Thursday despite rain.

“We got rained on for about an hour Thursday night, which delayed the Jets (pop group) concert for a half-hour, but we still had a record attendance” of 42,341 for the day, said Norbert Bartosik, the fair’s general manager.

“We were very pleased with the day considering the weather,” he said. “The fair has been rained on four days, and we’ve had threatening days almost every day, but it hasn’t seemed to dampen the spirits of the fair-goers. Our attendance to date is up overall.”

Bartosik said only a heavy rain could decrease attendance at this weekend’s main attractions, which include rodeos, concerts and laser shows.

“We’re hoping the rain will hold off,” he said. “Maybe the man above will smile on us.”

The elements haven’t affected attendance at Disneyland, spokesman Bob Roth said. The nightly fireworks show and other activities at the Anaheim amusement park have continued as usual.

“It’s not so bad that people are going to stay in. The large part of our visitors right now are tourists, and I don’t think they’re going to be deterred by a few sprinkles. If anything, (rain) may make the beach less attractive to people, and we can get them instead.”

The Sawdust Festival at Laguna Beach has been “surprisingly busy,” media and public relations coordinator Tina Arana said.

“Even a little bit of drizzle doesn’t seem to stop people. It’s kind of a peculiar situation. The weather wasn’t very nice Thursday, but I think a number of people were going to Laguna Beach but came here instead.”