I’m noticing swathes of seagulls soaring over our neighborhood of late.
Is this just me? Have they always been there?
It’s magnificent to watch a flock of them fly by, tilting and turning in the sun.
The sea must be close by.
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Is This A Heat Wave?
Today was supposed to be the crest of the worst heat wave to hit Los Angeles this year.
It doesn’t seem so bad in Pico-Robertson.
I walked to the bank this morning at 9 and it did feel a bit warm.
Now I’ve just come back from a pleasant stroll to the library. Again, a bit warm. I’d say the upper 80s. But that’s it.
I don’t have air conditioning where I live. I have a fan but I’m not using it. I might put it on tonight. I find the hum and the breeze comforting and it helps me sleep.
Read MoreCooling Trend Hits Pico-Robertson
Today is the coolest afternoon in about ten days and the week ahead promises highs in just the 70s.
I don’t have air conditioning. I’ve been running my fan most of the day and night and sleeping under just a sheet. I find it comforting to have something on top of me.
Read MoreIt’s Hot And Heavy In Pico-Robertson Today
Hot Day In Pico-Robertson, Don’t Expect Orthodox Jews To Show Much Skin
I remember a friend of mine moved from a university in Australia to one in California. And he went to work in dress shorts and received an unexpectedly large amount of derision. Dress shorts aren’t acceptable in the U.S.
Dress shorts are the way to go in Australia. Even bank managers wear them with ties.
I was shocked when I came to California from Australia in 1977 and found that it was often impermissible to wear shorts, even on the hottest of days. Long pants were required by many social situations.
In many ways, Australia is a less formal country than America.
Today it is close to 90 degrees in Pico-Robertson but you won’t find many Orthodox Jews walking around in shorts. Particularly not the women. The only Orthodox Jews who wear shorts in America are the modern Orthodox. It is a sure sign of limited Jewish religiosity.
I remember a story in Leon Wieseltier’s book Kaddish about a man coming to shul in the summer and asking whether or not to say a certain bracha (blessing).
He was told it was said with pants.
Read MorePower Out For An Hour
Power went out for much of zip code 90035 between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.
It’s been raining steadily here since Friday morning. Sometimes it is heavy.
The one good thing about the rain is that it cuts down on the beggars.
Normally I hit a beggar about every 100 yards on Pico Blvd. Why so many? The problem is that Jews are so generous, it just encourages more begging.
I never give to beggars. It just encourages them. As I blow them off, they typically say to me, “God bless you!”
I am intrigued about that new restaurant 26 opening up across Pico Blvd from the Pinto Shul.
Then there’s the fancy new dairy Italian restaurant opening up next to Shiloh’s Steak House.
And on Thursday, I hit this great new Thai vegan restaurant next to Chick’n'Chow and YICC.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
A series of warm Pacific storms will continue to batter Southern California with strong winds, heavy downpours and snowfall Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
The wet weather is expected to last through midweek, in a pattern so unusual that it has forecasters scratching their heads — particularly because this is a La Niña year, when ocean temperatures near the equator cool. Such years often involve colder, drier conditions in Southern California, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.
“I call La Niña the diva of drought for Southern California,” Patzert said. “But the rainfall looks like El Niño.”
As a result, some areas might receive their highest one-week rainfall totals in recent years.
There were periods of heavy and light rain across the region Saturday.
“The storm system is like a symphony,” Patzert said. “Right now we’re in the overture; we’re getting the quiet part of the symphony.”
Read MoreLightning Strikes In LA
(Gene Blevins / Associated Press)
Lightning strikes along the coast near Malibu early this morning.
More than 500 lightning strikes were recorded overnight in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, according to the National Weather Service.
“That’s pretty impressive for this part of the country,” said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The lightning strikes were recorded by a private detection network that tracks strikes that reach the ground, Kittell said. The highest volume of lightning usually occurs between clouds, he said, so the overnight storm likely produced far more lightning than was tracked.
Tucson-based Lightning Location and Protection Inc., reported that the lightning strikes ended in Los Angeles County at about 12:30 a.m. as the storm moved northwest.
The lightning was sparked by a cluster of thunderstorms that formed between Catalina Island and the mainland at about 11 p.m. Thursday, Kittell said. The storms also brought a scattering of rain, from trace amounts to about two-tenths of an inch in Ventura County valleys, he said. The rain was enough to prevent wildfires from erupting.
Read MoreHeat Wave Over
Read MoreTemperatures were expected to ease today after a heat wave broke decades-old records and sent hundreds of thousands of Southern Californians to beaches this weekend and left them searching for new words to describe their misery.
“It’s pretty much over with,” said Bill Hoffer, a National Weather Service spokesman.
The arrival of a low pressure system from the Gulf of Alaska promises a return to normal temperatures this week with highs in the 70s at the beaches and in the 80s inland, he said.
Sunday wasn’t quite as sweltering as previous days. Only one record was broken, at UCLA, where the 1949 high of 90 was topped by one degree.
But the thermometer hit triple-digit highs in a number of cities. It was 104 in Pasadena, 106 in Chatsworth and 116 in Palm Springs. Downtown Los Angeles had a high of 96, and Santa Ana, 99.
LaShawn and Melroy Payton woke up Sunday to wilting heat in their Watts home.
“You’re laying on the sidewalk and you’re an egg!” Payton, a home care nurse, said with a laugh. “The fans are blowing, and there’s still no air.”
The couple’s pool and gazebo offered little relief.
“What other adjectives can you use? Hot. Miserable. Sticky. Sweaty,” said Melroy, 51, a paralegal.
“It’s more of a back-East-type feel where you get hot and muggy.”
So they packed up and headed for Manhattan Beach.
As they set foot on sand in the early afternoon, they were met by a soft breeze.
A marine layer had brought a cooling haze.