How Hot Is It? Plenty, and It’s Steamy, Smoggy Also

Winds from a dying hurricane off the coast of Mexico pushed moisture across Orange County on Wednesday, sealing in the humidity with a thick cloud cover and leaving residents sweltering in temperatures reaching into the high 90s.

With the mercury hitting 99 in Irvine and 98 in Anaheim, the discomfort was intensified by up to 35% humidity in some parts of Orange County. It was 96 in Santa Ana and El Toro, and forecasters say today should offer more of the same.

Elsewhere in the Southland, the temperature peaked at 96 degrees at the Civic Center in Los Angeles--one degree cooler than the record for the date set in 1959--while soaring up to 104 in Ontario and 110 in some desert areas, according to the National Weather Service.

At Diamond Elementary School in Santa Ana, cranky schoolchildren studying in classrooms without air conditioning lined up outside restrooms to douse their heads in cool tap water. Lunchtime supervisors patrolled the blacktop with parasols, and kick-ball and basketball were definitely out.

Some youngsters complained of headaches, stomachaches and some said they were having difficulty concentrating.

“It’s inhumane,” said second-grade teacher Carol Flack. “And the heat goes on all summer, and into October.”

Late in the afternoon Wednesday, school officials decided to shorten classroom schedules, an nouncing that school would close 45 minutes early today and Friday to the relief of all concerned.

High humidity makes the heat all the more unbearable because it limits the body’s ability to cool itself.

“You’re not able to evaporate your perspiration as readily and heat builds up, so you feel hot,” said Bill Hibbert, a meteorologist at WeatherData Inc., a firm that provides forecasts for The Times.

For the moment, there is little prospect for relief.

The hot and steamy conditions are expected to continue for at least a few more days. High pressure continues to dominate over the western part of the nation as tropical depression Fausto continues to break up in the Pacific. Several days ago, Fausto was packing hurricane-force winds but has been breaking up and has now been downgraded to a tropical depression.

Still, forecasters say, its winds have been pushing moisture and clouds across the Southland, raising humidity levels to unseasonable highs.

“It looks like it’s going to stay fairly hot and humid over the next week or so throughout the Southwest,” Hibbert said. “This is probably the more unusual aspect of this weather pattern right now.”

Fausto’s wet fringes could bring some short-lived, scattered showers to parts of the Southland.

Ozone levels soared, with several monitoring stations across the Southland recording “unhealthful” smog levels exceeding 100 on the pollution standard index, officials of the South Coast Air Quality Management District reported.

A first-stage alert was declared in the Glendora area, where the ozone reached 205 and air was described as “very unhealthful.” Similar alerts are predicted for today in parts of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to Sylvia Haskell, an AQMD spokeswoman. Smog forecasters had predicted higher ozone levels for Wednesday, but the heat served to weaken an inversion layer, allowing enough pollutants to escape, she added.

Except for areas along the coast, Orange County’s smog levels Wednesday were in the “unhealthful” range and were expected to stay there for the next few days.

Forecasters were suggesting the beach for relief, because temperatures there are expected to remain up to 20 degrees cooler. On Wednesday, the Newport Beach high was a comfortable 74 degrees.

But unfortunately, not everyone can spend a cool day on the sand. Some, such as Garden Grove automobile salesman Joel Shamie, were forced to earn a living.

“It’s real hot when you get inside those cars out there,” Shamie said. “The steering wheel is hot and you can’t touch anything.”

Still, the heat had one advantage. “You know they have to be serious to be out here,” Shamie said of the few customers who trickled into the dealership. “It’s not just those tire kickers.”

Staff writer Scott Harris contributed to this report.

Just Blame It on Fausto Wednesday High temperature: 99 degrees (Irvine0 Humidity: 30 per cent Today High temperature: 70s along the coast Low 100s inland Rainfall: Chance of scattered showers