Summer of ’89 Ends on a Hot Note

The last day of summer came and went Friday in typical Southern California style: with a lot of hot air.

The return of traditional September heat came fast on the heels of a surprise summer storm that drenched most of Southern California and dusted the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains with an early snow several days ago.

As Friday’s heat eased, autumn made its official debut at 6:21 p.m.

Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the quick change in weather was characteristic of notoriously fickle September. Jet streams migrating from Canada to the western United States create “stronger dynamics” in the fall than during the summer months, he said.

The heat might not have broken any records, but it certainly was enough to make most people sit up and take notice. Temperatures rose to 89 degrees in El Toro, 88 in Santa Ana, 86 in Fullerton, 84 in San Juan Capistrano, 73 in Newport Beach.

In Anaheim, Friday’s high of 92 paled in comparison to the county record for Sept. 22: 105 degrees, which was set in Anaheim in 1939, according to Jim Sleeper, an Orange County historian.

That year, Sleeper said, a storm from Mexico walloped the county with heavy rain and 100-degree-plus temperatures for five days, including the county’s all-time high of 119 on Sept. 21, Sleeper said.

Friday saw pleasant beach weather, with lifeguards reporting temperatures in the mid-70s, except at San Clemente, where fog kept the mercury at or below 70 all day.

Smog alerts that had been predicted for Orange County on Friday never materialized, and air quality stayed in the moderate range. But the South Coast Air Quality Management District predicted unhealthful air quality Saturday for most parts of Orange County.

Utility companies reported only modest increases, if any at all, in electricity usage.

But the demand for cooling agents was strong.

Ken Ackerman, general manager of ABC Ice in Laguna Niguel, said his staff was so busy delivering ice that he was left alone in the office to answer the telephones.

Dittmann of WeatherData said the heat was created by a high-pressure system in the upper atmosphere over the western United States and a surface high-pressure system over the Rocky Mountains.

He said many parts of the county would have been hotter Friday had it not been for a mild Catalina eddy that developed late in the morning, sending cool air onto the shore and inland.

Forecasters expect today to be much like Friday, with temperatures a couple of degrees cooler. Dittmann said the warm, offshore air flow would weaken, resulting in coastal temperatures in the mid-60s and inland temperatures between the mid-80s and the mid-90s.