Damp, drab conditions provide August gloom

Lolita Harper

In an active Southern California community that prides itself as

the ultimate location for fun in the sun, dismal clouds -- like those

that hung around until the late afternoon Monday -- generally foster

gloomy moods.

But Mary Crosby, who was out and about for an early morning jog in

the Back Bay, welcomes the dreary conditions. Crosby said she hates

being hot in the sun. Call her crazy but Crosby said she is actually

energized by the cool marine layer that has plagued -- or blessed --

the Newport-Mesa area for the past three days.

“The sun zaps my energy,” Crosby said. “You can work out more when

it’s cool, and you’re not dying and squinting and worrying about

sunscreen and getting wrinkles.”

Crosby can thank a coastal eddy -- a low-pressure system over the

ocean -- for the absence of the sun.

Robert Balfour, a senior forecaster for the National Weather

Service, said two factors are to blame for the thick marine layer.

The first being the coastal eddy, which spins over the Pacific Ocean,

pushing the moisture from the water onto the land, he said.

Combine that with an upper-level low-pressure system, which sits

six miles above the Newport-Mesa area, and what you get is a marine

layer that is about seven times thicker than usual, Balfour said.

A marine layer in usually about 500 feet deep, but the weather

system duo has produced a 3,500-foot cloud cover, Balfour said.

“If you apply the math, you can figure that a marine layer that is

seven times as deep will take about seven times as long to burn off,”

said Balfour, explaining why gray skies have hung around until late

afternoon.

The thick clouds are usually common in the spring and early summer

and are often referred to as June gloom. But with the coastal eddy

and the high-level low-pressure system making their appearance in

late summer, Newport-Mesa residents are getting an overdue dose of

the drab.

Bleak weather conditions have cut beach crowds in half, lifeguard

officials said, leaving mostly avid surfers and thick-skinned

swimmers. Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer said officials closed about 10%

of the lifeguard towers as a result of the undersized crowd.

Dull skies make for a dull day in the life-guarding profession,

Bauer said.

“The weather actually makes it a little more monotonous for the

guards,” he said. “They’d rather have it sunny, with high activity.”

Balfour said residents can expect a thick marine layer, drizzle

and fog through Wednesday. Toward the end of the week, high pressure

will build over the area and cause the marine layer to shrink, he

said. Temperatures are expected to climb as high as 84 inland, but

could stay about 68 degrees near the coast.

“By Thursday, it should be a little drier, a little sunnier and a

little warmer,” Balfour said.