Lazy, Hazy Holiday Brings Light Beach Crowds So Far

Those lazy, hazy days of summer were still much in evidence as the Labor Day holiday weekend began Saturday with light beach crowds but heavy traffic on some Southern California freeways.

Lifeguards in Orange County reported few rescues, extremely calm surf and water temperatures of 67 degrees to 70 degrees. But there were a few stingray-induced injuries at Bolsa Chica State Beach and Seal Beach.

“The cars and rescues have been mellow, but one guy’s toe got gnarlied by a stingray,” said Tom Cormack, a senior park aide at Bolsa Chica.

Mike Halphide, a lifeguard dispatcher at Newport Beach, said: “It’s been a surprisingly low crowd today. Maybe it was the overcast in the morning, or maybe just the predictions of holiday gridlock. . . . It makes it better for us.”

At Los Angeles International Airport, operations officers described road traffic as “light in the morning and moderate in the afternoon.” They said the crush of holiday drivers, however, forced them to operate parking lots on a “limited basis,” meaning that motorists were not allowed to enter until someone pulled out.

Security officers said car traffic was moderate, with no major problems reported at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport.

The biggest inland attraction Saturday was the 18th annual Orange International Street Fair, in downtown Orange. Organizers said they expect that by time the fair closes tonight, 400,000 people will have attended.

At Castaic Lake north of Newhall, where Los Angeles County officials had closed the swimming area because of potential problems with high bacterial counts, “the crowds were very light because of all the publicity, even though we really haven’t had a case of a sick swimmer all year,” manager Charles Graham said.

Local freeway traffic “was quite heavy, but they’re behaving themselves out there and not banging each other up too badly,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Vince Zambrana.

Drunk-driving arrests were down to 175, in contrast with 243 in the same period last year, Zambrana added. Some of the reduction, he said, may have been from a concentrated effort by Los Angeles Police Department traffic officers Friday night, in which 101 drivers were snagged at three sobriety checkpoints.

The weather is expected to remain warm, with temperatures climbing to about 80 with hazy skies. Light smog is expected in some inland areas.

Times staff writer Dave Willman contributed to this story.