Some like it hot

Deepa Bharath

The weather gods have gone out of their way to prove the groundhog

wrong this time around -- at least in Southern California.

An early taste of spring and ice cream arrived Thursday as the weather

delivered temperatures in the low 80s. And conditions will heat up even

more today, forecasters say.

“We’ll have temperatures over 85 degrees [today],” said Stan Wasowski,

meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

Santa Ana winds blowing from a high pressure area into a low pressure

area over the ocean are bring about the warm readings, he said.

“The fact that the winds are originating from a lower latitude and we

have more daylight these days is causing the weather to be warmer than

usual,” Wasowski said.

The weather patterns are unusual for the season, he said.

“We’re supposed to be getting rain this time of the year,” Wasowski

said. “But there have been times in past years when we’ve had

temperatures go up to the 90s.”

After today, temperatures will likely drop into the 70s and probably

stay there for about another week, he said. Even then, temperatures are

expected to stay relatively warm.

The readings didn’t lead Newport-Mesans to complain Thursday, as they

seemed to make the most of the off-season gift.

Sales were swift at the Dairy Queen on Newport Boulevard in Costa

Mesa, saleswoman Dana Yang said.

“Oh, we’re having double our usual sales today,” she said. “We’re

very, very busy.”

Vanilla, she added, seemed to be the flavor of the day.

People also made the most of the beach, though lifeguards did not have

to make any major ocean rescues, said Newport Beach Fire Capt. John

Blauer.

“There are a lot more people out there today than usual,” he said.

“When the weather’s warm, people get to the beach, and they start

believing summer’s here.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .