Whew! Baja Storm Brews Big Waves, Big Heat

By CATHERINE GEWERTZ

Sept. 15, 1989 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Orange County residents scurried from the shimmering heat into air-conditioned climes Thursday, but bodysurfers enjoyed an outstanding day at the Wedge in Newport Beach, skimming through tubular waves that reached eight feet under the influence of Tropical Storm Octave.

Two related weather patterns created contrasting experiences in Orange County on Thursday. While Octave intensified a pressure system that swept layers of baking air over the desert and into Southern California, it also whipped up big, curling waves along the coast.

Geoff Gruber, a lifeguard at the Wedge, which is widely known as a prime bodysurfing spot, said breakers of five to eight feet--about twice the normal height--brought out the tightknit group of local bodysurfers. About a dozen rode the rolling waves late Thursday morning, while about two dozen others rested on the sand.

“Pretty much everyone who lives around here and cares about bodysurfing follows the storms, so they know what’s going on,” Gruber said. “It’s a big family out here, and everyone’s here today.”

Forecasters said Thursday that Octave was weakening as it swirled northwest up the coast from Baja California and hit cooler waters south of San Diego. But the tropical storm still was expected to leave a legacy of increased humidity and high clouds, even a chance of showers today in Orange County. Forecasters said the surf would decrease.

By early Thursday evening, Octave was about 450 miles south of San Diego, moving up the coast at about 10 m.p.h. and generating winds of up to 50 m.p.h., said Rick Dittmann, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times. Forecasters said the storm could be downgraded to a depression by early today.

But the sizzling heat was the offspring of a high-pressure system over the Great Basin of Idaho, Utah and Nevada, which drove hot, dry air down the mountains into Southern California, Dittmann said.

He said Octave exaggerated the heat by exerting a downward pressure on the atmosphere that increased the air temperature.

Those who spent any time outdoors had little need for such explanations. Coming on the heels of a comfortably cool summer, the temperature packed a surprise wallop.

“It’s extremely warm,” said Linda McKelvie, a secretary at Featherly Regional Park in Anaheim. “The crew here is really complaining. They keep coming into the air-conditioned office and saying, ‘Oh, it’s so cool--can I stay here?’ ” she said.

Caroline Rausch, an animal keeper at the zoo at Irvine Regional Park near Orange, said many of the animals spent the day sleeping in the shade. The wolves, who are lucky enough to have a pool in their enclosure, swam periodically and the pigs were hosed down several times by their keeper, Rausch said.

Even keepers took radical steps to stay cool.

“We’re sweating up a storm!” Rausch said. “We keep going into the walk-in refrigerator where the produce is kept for the animals. We stay in there for as long as possible, but then we have to go out into the sun and keep working.”

The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued first-stage smog alerts in the north and central portions of Orange County, indicating that the level of pollutants in the air poses a potential health hazard.

Hot spots around Orange County Thursday included San Juan Capistrano, with 100 degrees; Anaheim, 98; Fullerton, 97; Santa Ana, 95, and El Toro, 94.

Although the day was sweltering, it was not record-setting. The record-high temperature for Sept. 14 was set in 1971, when the mercury in El Toro reached 108 degrees, said Jim Sleeper, a county historian.

Tim Devaney, football coach at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, said his team normally practices until 5 or 5:30 p.m., but on Thursday, he called the players in at 3:30 p.m. “because it’s too damn hot.”

Even those who flocked to the water had a little extra trouble. They had to contend with the heavy surf and, in some places, strong currents.

Dan Hoffman, the supervising lifeguard at Huntington Beach, said at least 10 people had to be plucked from the water when they got caught in strong side currents that pushed them toward the pier.

Sgt. Tom Wallstrom of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Harbor Patrol in Newport Beach said that although the waves were higher than usual, the dangerously large swells that had been predicted did not materialize.

Three- to five-foot waves were hitting Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, where lifeguards said waves normally range from one to two feet. At Newport Beach, where the waves were five to eight feet, extra boats, jeeps and lifeguards were deployed in case of trouble, but lifeguard Jim Turner said there were few problems.

In all, beach-goers seemed to have found the most pleasant escape from the heat.

Pat Caldwell, 27, a self-described professional body-boarder, came from Irvine to catch a few curls at the Wedge.

“These are great bodysurfing waves,” he said moments after stepping out of the water. “They’ve got a great tube, they have a lot of push to them and a lot of power.”

Caldwell said he had been tracking Octave on a television weather channel so he knew good waves were on the way.

Matt Allen, 19, a student at Orange Coast College also lured to the Wedge, welcomed Octave’s influence.

“This is pretty exceptional,” Allen said. “The size of the waves is pretty big, and they have a nice, hollow tube.”

SOMETHING SMOGGY IN THE AIR

The South Coast Air Quality Management District declares a first-stage smog alert when the Pollutants Standard Index -- the measurement of pollutants in the air -- reaches 200, a level considered very unhealthy. Following is the number of first-stage smog alerts declared in various parts of Orange County from 1985 until and including Thursday:

Source: Tom Eichhorn, AQMD spokesman North County

1985: 13

1986: 8

1987: 6

1988: 3

1989: 4

North Central County

1985: 11

1986: 1

1987: 3

1988: 3

1989: 2