Small storm pushes life indoors

Lolita Harper

In a community that uses the outdoors as its playground for most of

the year, lurking gray clouds and chilly spears of rain, such as

those seen and felt Saturday, required residents to occupy their time

indoors.

Newport Beach resident Katie Styskal didn’t mind the soggy

conditions and used the rain as a good excuse to get a head start on

her holiday shopping. Styskal spent her morning in the dry confines

of South Coast Plaza, where she perused store windows for those

perfect Christmas gifts for her family and friends.

“I hate shopping so I thought I would get it over with,” she said.

“With the rain this morning, it seemed like a good time. At least I

am not missing out on a nice day.”

If a “nice day” is what Newport-Mesa residents are hoping for,

they will have to wait a little while, said Philip Gonsalves at the

National Weather Service in San Diego. The coastal community is

“being affected” by a typical weather system, he said.

Although it wasn’t as much as Wednesday’s sudden storm that

brought lightning and traces of rain to Newport-Mesa and flooded

parts of South Los Angeles, two-hundredths of an inch of rain on

Newport Beach Saturday morning and was expected to continue into the

evening, as well as into today.

“The low center of that pressure system has moved on to Nevada but

there is another approaching from the west,” Gonsalves said.

It is that pressure system that will most likely keep residents

away from usually popular recreation spots, such as the beaches and

parks for the next few days.

Lifeguard officials said they had a quiet watch Saturday as a

result of the morning shower and the lingering dark clouds. Those

conditions just don’t fair well with the customary beach dress code

of bikinis, flip flops and swim trunks.

“The rain pretty much scared everyone off,” said lifeguard Arn Van

Dyke. “We need some rain, though, right? Rain is good. It kind of

cleanses the Earth and we certainly don’t get enough of it.”

Downpours seem to be keeping children’s clothes clean also, as not

one was spotted Saturday afternoon running through Wilson Park,

digging in the sand or getting grass stains. Normally crowded sports

fields, such as the Farm Sports Complex and TeWinkle Middle School

were deserted as well.