Warm Weather Predicted--for ‘Deadliest’ Weekend

Tens of thousands of Southern Californians took to the highways for the last long weekend of summer, with prospects of mostly clear skies and warm weather through Labor Day.

“It should be real pleasant,” said meteorologist Stephen Burback of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Temperatures should reach the 70s at the beaches, the high 70s and low 80s in the mountains and 105 to 110 degrees at the Colorado River resorts in eastern deserts, Burback said.

That was the good weather news.

The bad news is that the Labor Day holiday, from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Monday, is generally the deadliest long weekend of the year, said California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Alice Huffaker in Sacramento.

She said 63 people died in traffic accidents on California’s streets and highways over the Labor Day weekend last year. Most were not wearing seat belts, Huffaker said.

“The Labor Day weekend is what the CHP calls a maximum enforcement period. That means every available officer and patrol unit will be on the roads along with seven helicopters and 11 aircraft,” Huffaker said. Last year, the CHP arrested almost 2,500 drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

At the CHP’s Southern Division headquarters, Officer Lydia Martinez urged motorists to check their cars for sufficient water and tire pressure before setting out on trips.

“We have a lot of people who try to get away for the summer one last time, and we find that a lot of them end up with disabled cars that could have been avoided if they had safety-checked their auto,” Martinez said.

“We want everyone to buckle their seat belts,” Martinez said. It is especially important to have children in restraining seats, she said.