Surf’s Up, School’s Out as Mercury Hits 100 in O.C.

While temperatures reaching 100 degrees baked inland Orange County on Wednesday, prompting the early closure today of more than 25 schools, giant waves of 10 to 12 feet continued to hit the county’s coastline, brought by Hurricane Kevin off Baja California.

In fact, this weekend may bring the biggest surf that Orange County has had all year as the hurricane passes to the west, marine safety officials said. Waves at the Wedge, the noted Newport Beach bodysurfing mecca, reached 15 feet Wednesday.

Anaheim reported a high of 100, Santa Ana 94 and El Toro 98. Those temperatures are expected to persist into the weekend, said Marty McKewon, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Officials in Santa Ana Unified School District sent home notices Wednesday that 11 schools will close as early as 1 p.m. today because of the heat and smog. At least 15 schools in Fullerton are scheduled to close this afternoon.

While looking forward to a day off today, students and teachers endured the oppressively hot Wednesday in the classroom.

“It is hot out, my sweat drips all over my tongue,” said Scott Stichart, a fifth-grader at Greenville School in Santa Ana. “When I was dismissed to go to the bathroom, I went outside and I felt like a pancake.”

Teachers at the school said they played educational games during class time and recess to keep the children’s minds off the heat.

“If they stay calm, they will stay cool,” said Patty Jessoe, a second-grade teacher.

But some school districts are immune to heat.

“We are feeling pretty lucky,” said James Fleming, superintendent of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. “All of our facilities are air-conditioned (except) part of one.” Thousands escaped the heat at the coastline, where the ocean put on a show.

Gordon Reed, a Newport Beach lifeguard, said: “Actually, we have a combination of two different swells that has kept the surf going for the past two weeks. (Tropical Depression Jimena) has been bringing surf from the southern hemisphere and now, today, we have surf from Hurricane Kevin. It’s a good autumn swell, the time of year when all the ingredients seem to come together to produce good surf.”

Matt Allen knew what to do. Paddle your body board into the lineup at the Wedge, drop down the face of a 15-foot wave and get covered by a mountain of cold water.

“It sure beats being in school today,” said Allen, 21, a UC Irvine student from Costa Mesa.

Marine safety Capt. Bill Richardson of Huntington Beach said the storms are also sending chilly water of about 60 degrees along with the hot surf. Hurricane Kevin, with winds up to 115 m.p.h., has pushed away the surface, where the warmer water is. The colder water from deeper levels then rose to the surface.

“It’s called upwelling,” Richardson said.

Meteorologists said both the cool temperatures this summer and the warm temperatures of the past week can be attributed to a high-pressure ridge that showed little interest in remaining over the Rocky Mountain states where it typically hovers.

Instead, the high-pressure ridge moved eastward during the summer, allowing Southern California to remain cool. Now, meteorologists say, the ridge has moved farther west, stopping at the western Nevada border. The result is soaring temperatures.

“The seasons are just a date on the calendar--something based on the angle of the sun and when it crosses the Equator,” McKewon said. “Basically, Los Angeles doesn’t have a true summer.”

Though the heat tempted fate in L.A. County with a few brush fires, it did little more than prove once again that summer in Southern California doesn’t end when kindergarten teachers pin colored leaves up on their bulletin boards.

“We’re into snow cones here,” said one secretary at Bell City Hall, where the temperature was 99.

In downtown Los Angeles, Wednesday’s high was also 99 degrees, tying a previous record for that day set in 1956.

It was hotter in San Gabriel (102) and in Riverside (104). Palm Springs was the nation’s hot spot, with 113.

In Simi Valley, just as the mercury was heading for 104 degrees, air conditioners went on the fritz at Simi Valley High School, sending many students to an air-conditioned gym.

“I’m sure many schools in the San Fernando Valley and maybe East L.A. will be shutting down probably,” said Pat Spencer, public information officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school district allows principals to petition to close schools when temperatures reach 95 degrees, he said.

“Maybe it’s because we’re too close to the sun,” speculated 5-year-old Tommy Rogins with a shrug in Borchard Community Park in Newbury Park.

At Sequoyah School in Pasadena, administrators had to reverse the normal discipline routine because of the heat.

“The usual punishment for getting in trouble is sitting in the principal’s office,” said Olive DePonte, maintenance coordinator. “But the principal’s office is air-conditioned because of the computers, so that would have been a privilege today.”

Times staff writer David Reyes and correspondent Len Hall contributed to this story.

School Closures

Schools without air conditioning in two Orange County districts are letting classes out early today. Each school will set its own release time, some allowing children to leave as early as 1 p.m. Fullerton is also letting children out early on Friday; if Santa Ana Unified follows suit, it will make an announcement today. Below are the schools’ phone numbers (all 714 area code) in case parents have any questions.

Santa Ana Unified School District Adams Elementary, 241-6485 Diamond Elementary, 241-6488 Edison Elementary, 241-6491 Greenville Fundamental, 241-6494 Hoover Elementary, 558-5737 Jefferson Elementary, 241-6500 Martin Elementary, 241-6503 Remington Elementary, 558-5763 Santiago Elementary, 558-5881 Washington Elementary, 241-6512 Wilson Elementary, 558-5766

Fullerton School District Acacia Elementary, 447-7700 Commonwealth Elementary, 447-7705 Fern Drive Elementary, 447-7710 Hermosa Drive Elementary, 447-7720 Laguna Road Elementary, 447-7725 Orangethorpe Elementary, 447-7730 Pacific Drive Elementary, 447-7735 Raymond Elementary, 447-7740 Richman Elementary, 447-7745 Rolling Hills Elementary, 447-7795 Sunset Lane Elementary, 447-7750 Valencia Park Elementary, 447-7755 Woodcrest Elementary, 447-7760 Ladera Vista Junior High, 447-7765 Nicholas Junior High, 447-7775 Source: Individual school districts