O.C. Temperatures Break Record, Tax Tempers

The heat wave that wilted residents like old lettuce Tuesday also created the highest demand for electricity in Southern California history, broke a temperature record in Orange County and taxed hundreds of cars to the breaking point.

By midafternoon, the mercury had climbed to 99 degrees in Santa Ana, breaking the record for the date set in 1951. And by 4 p.m., demand for electricity hit 18,735 megawatts, bringing Southern California Edison Co. close to capacity, said spokesman Paul Klein.

“This new record is the all-time mark since records were kept by the company, which is about 100 years old,” Klein said.

About 1:50 p.m., just when residents thought the day couldn’t get any hotter, fans stopped spinning.

Thousands of Orange County customers were affected by sporadic dips in energy caused in part by an airplane that crashed into a 500,000-volt Edison transmission line in Cajon Pass near Hesperia.

Klein said the customers experienced dimming lights and electrical equipment failure before power was restored about 20 minutes later.

The heat even affected telephone service: Phones stopped working for about 3,300 GTE customers in Westminster, Cypress and Garden Grove when air conditioning caused condensation to form on the telecommunications equipment at GTE facilities in Westminster, spokesman Lou Banas said.

Banas said fuses and power packs began blowing about 9:30 a.m., and “kept blowing throughout the day.” Thirteen prefixes were involved: 371, 373, 890 through 898, 934 and 976.

By 11 p.m., service to all but about 1,200 customers had been restored, and GTE employees planned to work throughout the night to restore service by this morning, he said.

For the second day in a row, the National Weather Service issued a rare “excessive heat warning,” given when the “human discomfort-level” rises.

Weather experts warned residents to prepare for another hot day today, with temperatures expected to hit 98. But it might be a tad cooler after that.

“Thursday looks like it will start to cool off when you have more of a marine influence that begins to take shape,” said John Sherwin, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

The heat wave will linger through Thursday, when a gradual cooling trend will begin bringing temperatures “maybe down to the 90s,” National Weather Service meteorologist Dennis Tussey said.

To cool off Tuesday, people swarmed to parks, swimming pools and beaches, where heavy surf generated by a hurricane off Mexico pounded the coast.

In Newport Beach, more than 70,000 people stretched out on the sand while surfers rode 8-foot waves and chatted about even larger surf heading this way from Hurricane Guillermo. The storm is now spinning 700 miles southwest of Baja California’s tip.

“We’re running red flags along our south-facing beaches because it’s a very powerful swell,” said Newport Beach Lifeguard Lt. Jim Turner. “We also have a good-sized crowd because it’s hot inland.”

The hurricane has caused extreme rip currents that were pulling swimmers out to sea, keeping lifeguards busy, Turner said.

“My guess is we’re going to double [Monday’s] 95 rescues,” he said.

Others needed rescuing on the county’s streets and freeways.

By 10 p.m., California Highway Patrol dispatchers had fielded nearly 1,300 calls, mostly from drivers requesting a tow truck, spokesman Bruce Mauldin said.

“It’s the highest I’ve ever seen, by about 400 calls,” he said. “And it’s been nonstop.”

Mauldin said most of the calls were regarding cars that had overheated and stalled. Resulting traffic jams lasted well into the evening, the CHP said.

“Traffic always gets worse when it gets hot,” Mauldin said. “But this is crazy, a million times over.”

At the Orange County Health Care Agency in Santa Ana, a faulty air-conditioning system caused county employees to swelter. But they managed to keep functioning by opening windows and turning on portable fans to remain cool.

“We’re surviving, but’s it’s hot in here,” said a county worker.

Officials at San Diego Gas & Electric Co. in San Diego, which supplies electricity to about 100,000 customers in south Orange County, asked customers in a rare News Alert on the company’s Internet web site to reduce electricity use.

Gary Cotton, an SDG&E; vice president, asked that all the firm’s commercial, industrial and residential customers raise their air-conditioning thermostat settings to 85 degrees or higher.

He also stressed reducing use of all nonessential appliances until 6 p.m.

Nonessential, of course, not including air conditioners.

“I can’t keep them in the store,” a manager at Home Base in Irvine said of his stock of air conditioners Tuesday. Customers “don’t care about the size, the color, just as long as it works. Anything to stay cool.”

Times staff writer Bonnie Hayes contributed to this report.

* DESERT HEAT: Tourists in Death Valley had a really hot time of it as mercury reached 123. A13