Endless summer

Susan McCormack

Trick-or-treaters weren’t greeted with the cool breezes and gray skies

that usually precede Halloween.

October closed as it started: with temperatures about 10 degrees warmer

this year than last, officials said.

Locally on Sunday, thermometers hit 86 and skies were blue as a summer

day, though Sunday morning’s time change meant an earlier sunset than in

recent weeks.

Brent Jacobsen, a lifeguard supervisor at Newport Beach, said that about

25,000 were at the beach each day this weekend to enjoy views of Catalina

Island and September-like weather.

“The weather’s been nice. We’ve had zero wind,” Jacobsen explained. “But

it’s very smoggy because any wind we’ve had has been offshore.” Jacobsen

said this month’s heat has far surpassed the one day in October 1998 when

temperatures topped 80 degrees only once.

Stan Wasowski, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said that

the area will begin to cool down this week, but heat up again next

weekend.

“We’ll see the temperatures drop tomorrow a few more degrees, and Tuesday

make a bigger drop five to eight degrees and get back down in the 70s,”

Wasowski predicted, but warned, “We’re in a trend right now for lots of

dry, warm weather.”