Heat, Smog to Stick Around : Weather: More of the same is predicted for today, but air quality experts point out that so far, this summer has been one of the county’s least smoggy.

Temperatures soared into the 90s across Orange County again Monday, prompting some schools to cut classes short for today, and forecasters predicted more of the same hot, smoggy weather for today.

The good news is that even though air quality is expected to be unhealthful in much of the North County today, the experts see some cause for optimism. The summer of 1990, it turns out, is shaping up as one of the least smoggy for the county in years.

Orange County has had fewer smog alerts this summer than any since at least 1979, South Coast Air Quality Management District statistics show.

Air pollution experts give some of the credit to the myriad efforts to improve air quality in the Los Angeles Basin, among them auto smog controls, car-pool lanes and new controls on industrial emissions--with producing visible results.

“It’s not a fluke,” said Bob Phalen, director of the air pollution health effects laboratory at the UC Irvine’s California College of Medicine. Favorable weather alone does not explain away the improvement, he said. “California is making progress on air pollution.”

But that was not apparent Monday as most of the county sweltered through temperatures in the 90s and choked through smog that, although it did not merit a smog alert, was nonetheless bad enough to bother plenty of people.

The temperature hit 99 degrees in Anaheim, just one degree shy of the all-time high for the date, set in 1948, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. Other parts of Orange County weren’t far behind: Highs were 95 in Santa Ana, 94 in El Toro and 91 in San Juan Capistrano. Forecasters expect today to bring more of the same, with highs of 98 in Anaheim and Irvine and highs in the mid- or low 90s in El Toro, San Juan Capistrano and Santa Ana. The heat wave is not expected to break until the weekend.

Santa Ana Unified School District officials said they plan to send children home early today to protect them from the stifling heat.

“The main point is to get them out early enough in the day, before the heat starts to build up,” said district spokeswoman Diane Thomas. “It’s just too oppressive.”

A memo was sent home to parents advising them that pupils at some schools will be sent home at 1:05 p.m. and that bus drivers have been told of the schedule change, Thomas said. The district is focusing on schools with limited air conditioning. Children in 16 of the district’s 41 schools--11 of them elementary schools--will be sent home early, Thomas said.

As for Monday, only beach-goers were spared. Steady breezes kept air temperatures in the mid-70s on Orange County beaches. Water temperature was 70 degrees.

“It’s beautiful, but windy,” said Duncan McCulloch, 26, a lifeguard at Huntington Beach State Park. “If there was no wind, it would be baking out here today.”

Lifeguards did, however, report a yellowish foam on the water.

“If you get a handful of it, it would be slick,” said Sean Steimle, 26, a lifeguard at Bolsa Chica State Beach. “I think it’s dirty and disgusting.”

“It looks like the mousse that washed up when we had the oil spill in February, but it’s not as dark,” said Adrianne Morrison, executive director of Amigos de Bolsa Chica, a conservation group. “It’s certainly not natural foam or plankton.”

Coast Guard officials could not identify the substance Monday evening.

AQMD spokeswoman Carolyn Green said: “Historically, the last week of August and the first week of September are the dirtiest two weeks of the year . . . even though this is a clean year. When the water and land are really warm, you have the same temperatures, which creates worse inversions and the worst smog levels.”

So far this year, there have been just three first-stage smog alerts for Orange County, contrasted with the seven reported by the same date last year, the AQMD said.

The windy weather for most of the summer is responsible for some of the improvement, Burback said, as smog-laden air would be blown away from populated areas and be replaced by clean, dry, desert air.

“That’s also the reason for the warmer temperatures you’ve experienced all summer,” Burback said of the winds.

Although it is difficult to distinguish the roles that emissions reduction and weather conditions played, air quality has improved perhaps 20% to 30% beyond what weather patterns alone would explain, said John Holmes, director of research for the California Air Resources Board in Sacramento.

“The smog season, of course, isn’t over yet, but at this point, based on what the actual air quality has been and what the actual meteorology has been, it looks like there has been a fairly big decrease” in smog, Holmes said.

Although it is not conclusive, the data offers encouragement that the campaign for cleaner air is working, Holmes and Phalen said.

Holmes also noted that higher oil prices and plentiful natural gas supplies this summer have prompted many electric generating plants to switch from burning oil to burning relatively cleaner natural gas.

“As long as the natural gas supplies hold up and the price structure holds up, the benefits should continue,” Holmes said.

ORANGE COUNTY FIRST-STAGE SMOG ALERTS

Air quality is rated on a Pollutant Standards Index that measures the carbon monoxide, ozone and nitrogen dioxide in the air. Conditions which number below 100 are good, and those from 101 to 199 are considered unhealthy for those who are sensitive such as the sick and elderly.

Conditions which number between 200 and 275 rate a first-stage alert, and children and the elderly are advised to stay indoors. A second-stage alert rates from 275 to 399, and everyone is advised to avoid strenuous, outdoor activities. A third-stage alert rates above 400, but one hasn’t been recorded in the county in the last two decades.

Orange County 1990 1989 1988 Recording Stations *YTD *YTD Total *YTD Total La Habra 3 3 5 3 3 Anaheim 0 2 4 2 2 Los Alamitos 0 0 0 1 1 Costa Mesa** 0 0 0 0 0 El Toro 0 2 2 2 2

* Year to date ** Costa Mesa station was off-line for most of 1989

Source: South Coast Air Quality Management District