A Winter of Summer Warmth

Unusually large crowds at Santa Monica Beach peppered lifeguards with the same two questions all day Wednesday: “Can you believe this great winter weather?” And: “Is it always like this around here?”

To the latter, lifeguard Capt. John Moryl responded, “Not exactly.”

Weather Central Inc. forecaster Alan Shoemaker attributed the summery conditions to a strong and wide area of high pressure parked over northern Utah that is forcing air to slide down off the Rockies toward the Pacific Ocean.

“As the air rushes down the mountains, it warms and dries out,” he said. The result: very warm temperatures and relative humidities running only 5% to 15% about 10 miles inland.

Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday tied a record high of 82 set in 1953. Santa Ana’s high of 85, while not a record, made it the warmest city in the nation.

The strong northeast winds through and below mountains and canyons pushed temperatures generally into the upper 70s and mid-80s, creating extreme “red flag” fire conditions across most of Southern California, fire officials said.

“We haven’t had any rain in two months, so everything is extremely dry,” said Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Brian Jordan. “We’re asking everyone to be alert. Don’t smoke in the brush, or build campfires.”

The winds are expected to gradually taper off this evening, allowing temperatures to cool somewhat. But chances of rain remain “pretty small,” Shoemaker said, with a weak system expected to move into Southern California Friday night and Saturday.

“The next significant chance of rain may not arrive in Southern California until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest,” Shoemaker said.

It was just a year ago, when red flag conditions also existed, that a wildfire burned more than 650 acres in the hills above Glendale and La Canada Flintridge and threatened million-dollar homes.

Fire crews are on alert.

“With relative humidity down and these winds, that’s ballgame for us,” Santa Clarita Valley Battalion Chief Mike Sandeman said. “We’re all ready. We train for this.”

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Times staff writers Carol Chambers, Hector Becerra and Timothy Hughes contributed to this story.

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Los Angeles Rainfall 1877-2000

The National Weather Service recorded 11.97 inches of precipitation for the calendar year 2000 at its Los Angeles station. However, since July 1, the official start date of the rainfall season, only 1.20 inches of rain has been reported for Los Angeles.

Annual Totals (Jan. 1-Dec.31)

AVERAGE FOR 123 YEARS: 15.00 inches

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Source: National Weather Service

Highest monthly totals from 1884 through 1999