The Heat Wave Topples Record in San Diego

Soaring temperatures set records all over San Diego County on Wednesday, as officials warned that the extreme heat could be “a disaster in the making.”

“I would say the fire danger is paramount,” said Richard Stitt of the National Weather Service.

Jim Van Meter, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry, called such conditions for early April “phenomenal.” So far, although, the only serious heat-related fire in the county occurred Monday near Julian, where Van Meter said more than 80 acres burned.

It didn’t take long Wednesday for San Diego to break a record. The temperature at Lindbergh Field just after 10 o’clock in the morning reached a summery 95 degrees, topping by 7 degrees the previous all-time high for April 5, set in 1971.

103 Degrees at Spring Valley

And the city missed by 1 degree the all-time monthly high of 96, which was set 79 years ago, said Stitt.

“The heat wave will continue right on through Friday,” but the peak will probably come today, Stitt said.

In the county’s inland valleys, Wednesday’s readings were even hotter--the temperature topped out at 103 in Spring Valley, while Fallbrook, El Cajon, La Mesa, Lemon Grove and Santee all hit 102.

The coolest spot in San Diego County Wednesday was Mt. Laguna, which had a high reading of 74. The high in Julian was 79.

The heat was felt in a myriad of ways. It was feared by Weather Service and forestry officials that the unseasonably high temperatures could trigger brush fires that Van Meter said might mean “a disaster in the making.”

He said the heat is drying out grasses and underbrush, and, combined with lower than normal rainfall of recent months, “this could develop into a real disaster for us. We’d like to say, ‘Be safe, not sorry,’ and urge landowners and property owners to clear away brush and dead shrubs around the house. That gives you an 80% better chance of saving your home if a fire strikes.”

The more direct effect of the stifling heat was simply enduring it. Animals at the zoo were hosed down almost all day. About a dozen heat-related cases showed up in the first-aid station of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, where the Padres won their first game of the season.

Three high schools in the Grossmont Union district let out early because they don’t have air conditioning and the students were getting overheated.

San Diego Gas & Electric saw a leap in demand, reaching a peak at 3 p.m. of 2,538 megawatts. SDG&E; spokesman David Smith said the company had to use an additional three generators to meet the need. He added that SDG&E;’s all-time peak was 2,831 megawatts, set on Sept. 6 of last year.

So, what’s causing all this?

“We have a very intense high-pressure system in our midst,” forecaster Stitt said. “The heat relates to the strength and the position of the high. The position of the high creates an easterly flow, bringing hot air in from the desert. The high pressure compresses the air, adding greatly to the stifling heat. And the humidity is only 12%, so it’s really getting down there. With such conditions, I would say the fire danger is paramount.”

Around most of the county Wednesday, people carried on with business as usual. A crowd of 25,233 celebrated the Padres’ first victory, albeit with cup after icy cup of soda or beer, and by retreating to the shaded areas of the plaza and loge sections where the temperature at least felt like Mission Valley, as opposed to Nigeria.

“It’s been really hot,” said securities broker Jim Biddle, who was sitting in a field-level seat, where the beer and suntan oil flowed freely. “The salt’s been running down into my eyes for most of the game. A lot of people have been scampering down to the tunnel to cool off. The soft-drink people are doing a land-office business. I’ve had three already.”

A security guard, who asked not to be quoted by name, said, “We’ve had hundreds of people in here (the air-conditioned Sports Club Bar). We even ran out of sushi for the third game in a row. Can you imagine that? People wanting to eat raw fish on a hot day like this.”

In the Sun Too Long

“We’ve been much busier than usual,” said Don Hadland, a registered nurse manning the first-aid station. “We’ve had about a dozen heat-related cases. The only danger is people sitting in the sun too long, not drinking enough fluid. Any fluid is OK--just make sure you drink something.”

The heat stress got to a lot of people during the day, especially motorists. A spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol said she had answered 65 calls between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. She said all calls for the seven-hour shift numbered about 250, spread out among seven dispatch workers.

“Mostly, (it was) people running out of gas,” she said. “A lot of overheated cars and blowouts. We don’t have enough people to handle it. No fatals, nothing major, just tons of heat-related stuff and folks going crazy.”

At San Carlos United Methodist Preschool on Cowles Mountain Boulevard, where the temperature soared over 100, 180 children between the ages of 3 and 6 spent the day washing dolls and trucks in the water and making Popsicles out of grape juice.

“Heat affects kids differently, but some of them just wilt,” said Joan Dyer, assistant director of the school. “Some kids are kind of inactive, and the heat can make them grumpy. But this afternoon, we did ice painting with ice cubes and Jell-O, and we’re letting them squirt each other with squirt bottles, which they love.”

At the San Diego Zoo, misting machines were spraying as fast as they could in bird exhibits. Bears were lolling in their pools, and scores of other beasts looked downright uncomfortable.

“All of the animals are hot, and they’re much more lethargic on a day like this,” said zoo spokeswoman Georgeanne Irvine. “On a day like this, and it’s as hot as an oven out there, people are as lethargic as the animals.”

At Seventh Near B, a new coffee house-newsstand on 7th Avenue near B Street, a new drink was concocted as a result of the wave. Ice coffee made a welcome debut, along with three teaspoons of chocolate, combined with two shots of espresso and Half and Half over ice--at a cool $3.70 a glass.

Owner Susan Wexler reported selling quite a few copies of the swimsuit issue of Wine Spectator magazine.

She suspected it had something to do with the weather.

In Los Angeles, the heat wave caused swiftly rising temperatures as the day progressed, reaching 105 by 5 p.m. at the Civic Center--annihilating the previous record high of 90 degrees for the day. At one point, the thermometer jumped 2 degrees within the span of a brief morning radio weathercast.

Forecasters expected the heat wave to roll on through the weekend. Some 100-degree marks might be broken in inland regions as late as Sunday, said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

In addition to the 105-degree record posted downtown, the thermometer reached a searing 109 in Ontario, 105 in Long Beach and 104 in Santa Ana, Monrovia and Palm Springs.

Los Angeles County lifeguards estimated that more than 200,000 people fled to the beaches. But in some places, the water was as treacherous as the atmosphere. Riptides forced lifeguards to make more than 50 rescues off Los Angeles’ South Bay beaches, officials said.

A group of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crewmen, preparing to go underground to work on a 34,500-volt power cable in a manhole under Main Street, faced furnace-like temperatures that soared as high as 140 degrees on a day like Wednesday.

“There’s not a whole lot you can do, except stay in the shade and drink lots of fluids,” said Richard Boyd, 34, an electrician. “But, if you are working down in a hole and it gets real hot, you can pour cold water from a jug full of ice over your wrists.”

Times staff writers Stephen Braun, Bill Billiter, Eric Malnic and Louis Sahagun contributed to this story.