Newport-Mesa feels the big chill

Marisa O’Neil

Mother Nature gave folks a little, early taste of winter Sunday and

Monday with cold temperatures, including a record low in Newport

Beach.

A low-pressure system rolled in from the north late Saturday

night, bringing with it colder air, according to National Weather

Service forecaster Stan Wasowski. The brief cold snap came suddenly,

bringing thunder, snow-capped mountains and not-quite-frozen fingers

to normally temperate Orange County.

“This whole thing came as a total shock,” Mission Viejo resident

Susie Ferrer said as she watched her children play in a Fashion

Island fountain at lunchtime on Tuesday.

The sun was just starting to break through and warm the colored

tiles of the shopping center by midday on Tuesday.

But the morning started out so chilly that Ferrer threw on long

pants, two shirts and a snow hat for her morning run.

Sunday’s high temperature made it to only 57 degrees in Newport

Beach, beating a 1994 record of 58 degrees, according to the National

Weather Service.

John Wayne Airport stayed at a relatively chilly 59 degrees but

didn’t break any records.

Overnight lows hovered in the mid- to high-40s.

Things warmed up a bit on Monday but stayed in the low- to

mid-60s.

The temperatures were a little colder than normal for this time of

year, Wasowski said.

But the fewer hours of sunlight, the chillier the air stays, he

said.

Saturday’s storm dumped snow as low as 1,500 feet, Wasowski said.

The white stuff capped not only the distant ski areas but

Saddleback Mountain as well, making for picturesque views from

Newport-Mesa.

By Tuesday, Saddleback Mountain was back to its more typical

greenish-brown, snow-free state. It’s likely to stay that way, with

temperatures warming up 5 or 10 degrees in the next few days,

Wasowski said.

That’s just fine for Scott Belodeau, a former Newport Beach

resident visiting from Washington, D.C., with his children,

7-year-old Jack and 5-year-old Zoe.

The six years he’s spent in the frigid East have made him a little

more hardy, he said.

“It’s not nearly as cold as D.C.,” he said, as things warmed up

slightly on Tuesday.

“But if you’d asked me six years ago, I’d have said this is cold.”