‘Die-Hard Tanners’ Retreat Indoors : Forecasters See Little Relief From Gloom Bloom of June

As the gloom of overcast skies and early morning fog rolls into its second week, betraying the promise of paradise in Orange County, some manage to see the bright side of gray.

“Hey, we’re packed in here,” said Glenn Wiessner, co-owner of Aloha Sun Tanning Center in Fullerton.

Wiessner said he had 12 ovens--uh, tanning booths--humming Wednesday at his salon next door to a Sizzler Restaurant to accommodate crowds “who’d like to be out but aren’t because of the weather.”

“These are die-hard tanners. We put a little sunshine in their lives,” he said.

Short-term investors in the sunbeam market here may just want to turn to tanning parlors. For the next five days or so, about the only ultraviolet rays in Orange County will be man-made.

Weather forecasters blame a weak jet stream and a heavy layer of marine air for the county’s below-normal temperatures this June. “But don’t judge June until it’s over,” warned Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts to The Times. “Spring typically brings variable weather.”

Indeed, sun experts here agree that there is nothing normal about June weather.

“You can’t say normally ,” said Newport Beach lifeguard Lt. John Blauer. “Normally, the beaches are packed if it’s nice weather. It doesn’t matter if it’s February or what the season is.”

Spring is too unpredictable, Blauer said: “Anybody who’s from around Orange County understands that.”

Gordon Reed, another Newport lifeguard, mused: “People come by all the time and say they thought it was supposed to be sunny in Southern California. It really isn’t. At least half the time, it’s not sunny. Heck, I don’t think anyplace is less sunny than our beaches.”

Quickly scanning the sands with his binoculars, Reed estimated Wednesday’s beach crowd under cloudy skies at maybe 1,000--”virtually nobody,” he said.

On a blazing day, the city’s population can double to 120,000, as crowds throng to this tony seafront town, Reed said.

Dittmann of WeatherData said the capricious clouds of recent days largely result from the jet stream--a high-altitude, high-velocity air stream originating in the northern Pacific Ocean and moving east, helping to determine the nation’s weather patterns.

For the past three weeks, a series of weak, low-pressure ridges in the upper levels have flowed in from the Pacific, over the Southwest, then on to the central United States. By July, the jet stream usually shifts up to Canada, he said, leaving behind more sunshine in Orange County.

Meanwhile, a layer of moist sea air almost a mile thick has blanketed the county’s coastal and inland areas, he said.

“To me, it just seems like a typical spring pattern,” Dittmann said.

He expects coastal temperatures through the weekend to hover in the middle 60s, with inland highs in the upper 70s.

And how is the sun parasol business faring in Orange County during these days of gloomy skies?

“It doesn’t really have much impact on us,” said Cary Golan, office manager for Parasol Enterprises Inc. The Irvine firm specializes in those quaint parasols stamped with beer logos that shelter outdoor dining areas of cafes and restaurants.

“People buy the umbrellas anyway,” Golan said. “They go (up) no matter what.”