Warm water crowds beaches

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- It was one of those weekends when you could surf

without a wetsuit, though forecasters say such days could be hard to come

by with fall around the corner.

Water temperatures hit 70 degrees in local beaches Sunday and hovered

in the high 60s Monday. The balmy conditions, of course, attracted

hundreds of people to the beach over the weekend.

While local officials and lifeguards say the warm water is probably

about normal for this time of the year, meteorologists believe it is on

the higher side for a year when water temperatures have been fluctuating

from month to month.

“Water temperature of 70 degrees is pretty unusual this time of the

year,” said Miguel Miller, a meteorologist with the National Weather

Service in San Diego.

He said the high temperature is difficult to attribute to one factor.

“We’ve had some high pressure and the recent hot weather has helped,”

Miller said. “It has fluctuated quite a bit this summer. It was warm in

June, cold in July and warm again now.”

The most likely cause for comfortable water temperatures could be the

counterclockwise winds over the ocean that retard the coastal upwelling

that brings cold water to the surface, he added.

Newport Beach Lifeguard Capt. Eric Bauer said there were only a

handful of rescues Sunday despite crowded beaches.

“We’ve had only 2,000 rescues this summer compared to 5,000 last

year,” he said.

That is because there has been practically no surf this summer, Bauer

said.

“But the weather has been good,” he said. “And a lot of people have

been coming to the beach.”

Lifeguards also have kept an eye out for great white sharks in the

area after the weekend saga of the 60-foot whale carcass in Newport

Harbor that was pursued and eaten by 18- and 25-foot great whites.

Lifeguards said the hungry sharks pursued the dead whale for hours as

a lifeguard boat on Friday evening towed the carcass into the ocean.

Bauer said there was an unconfirmed sighting of a great white shark

near the Santa Ana River. He said it is not likely it was related to the

dead whale.

“They don’t frequent this area that much,” he said. “But people should

keep their eyes open.”