Sizzling San Diego : County’s Heat Wave Sets Records From the Beaches to the Desert

From the beaches to the desert, high temperatures Monday in San DiegoCounty seemed to give a wilting citizenry the same sultry thought: It’s hot.

In the Anza Borrego Desert, where on Sunday the hottest temperature in the country was registered at 107 degrees, the temperature dipped a degree to 106. But it was still the nation’s hottest, said Wilbur Shigehara, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

Miles and a world away, ocean temperatures followed in kind, bringing unseasonably warm waters that drew flocks of bathers to city beaches.

And city utility watchers saw residential water use swell as temperatures began their ascent last weak.

In the desert, spring flowers, which weeks earlier had painted miles of beige expanse with an extraordinary color, shriveled during the weekend bake, as did the number of visitors to the state park, said Blanca Painter, dispatcher at the park ranger head quarters.

“When the heat does away with the blooms, it does away with the visitors,” Painter said.

On peak days in March and early April, more than 7,000 tourists used the Anza Borrego Park visitors’ center, said park volunteer, Greta Jones.

On Monday, about 300 people visited the center, Jones said, and dozens of campsite reservations were canceled when forecasters called for high temperatures this week.

Most would-be campers said they would reschedule when the outlook is more forgiving, Painter said.

“They are watching the weather,” Painter said.

Temperatures across the county were about 10 degrees above the average for April of last year, Shigehara said. Saturday, the temperature at Lindbergh Field was 83, breaking the record for the date by 2 degrees, Shigehara said. The previous record was set in 1898. On Sunday, the high temperature of 83 tied the record set in 1908, Shigehara said.

On Monday, it reached 82 in San Diego, 5 degrees below the record for the date set in 1986.

Ocean water temperatures of 68 to 70 degrees are about 7 degrees warmer than last April, city lifeguard Lt. Charles Wright said.

The combination of heat and water temperatures verging on tropical sent an estimated 158,000 people to San Diego beaches over the weekend, Wright said. More than 150 bathers and rookie surfers were rescued Sunday from strong rips and moderate surf, Wright said.

The number of rescues was similar to the busiest days of summer, Wright said, despite the off-season staffing of lifeguard teams in the spring. In the spring, the number of guards is about half the normal summer crews.

Lifeguard supervisors reassigned their staffs to the busiest areas--Ocean Beach, where there were 76 rescues on Sunday, and Mission Beach where there were 66, Wright said. The most serious injury was the near drowning of a boy who was swimming in the San Diego River, Wright said. Minor injuries were reported in the other rescues, Wright said.

“We were able to keep our heads above water, so to speak,” Wright said.

City water officials said Monday that the heat had caused customers to increase water use by nearly 20% since early last week.

A week ago, the average consumption by San Diego’s 1.1 million customers was about 73% of the average water use in recent years, said Kurt Kidman, a spokesman for the city of San Diego Water Utilities Department. Since Wednesday, water use has risen to more than 90% of the previous average of 209 million gallons a day. Drought austerity measures in the city have included a voluntary 10% reduction in water use.

In response to the increase in water use and to construction on a water pipeline serving communities south and east of San Diego, county officials asked residents in those areas to refrain from outdoor watering for three days.

An 84-inch pipeline that delivers potable water to 500,000 people in the Helix, Otay, Padre Dam, Lakeside and Riverview water districts will be rerouted around a freeway extension of California 52, said Mark Stadler, spokesman for the San Diego County Water Authority. That construction was scheduled to be completed by Thursday evening, Stadler said.

Hot temperatures are expected to dwindle beginning early Wednesday, then taper off to the mid to low 70s by the weekend, Shigehara said. Beginning Thursday, coastal morning fog and low clouds are expected, giving way to clear skies, Shigehara said.