Warm weather means off-season business boost along Long Beach shore

They paddled across Naples canal this week, the father and son visiting from Canada.

And even on a Wednesday that marked the begiing of a brief break from the February heat wave, with rain clouds rolling in and the noon temperature dipping to a nippy 71 degrees, Mike Basil and his son David smiled as they beached their rented kayak.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Basil, who has enjoyed the warm weather while visiting family. “Even 92 (degrees), I’ll take. Eighty-two, I’ll take. Seventy-two is nice, too.”

Not only has it been wonderful for tourists and locals soaking up the sun, but the warm weather, combined with an El Niño patte that so far has produced more predictions of rain than actual rain, has meant an off-season boost in business for waterfront entrepreneurs.

Fred Khammar, who owns restaurants and rental stands along most of the Long Beach strand as well as Alamitos Bay and Mother’s Beach, said his business is up 75 percent over this time last year, as people have hit the winter water on paddle boards, pedal boats, kayaks and other personal watercraft.

“It’s certainly been a lot busier than it would typically be when we’re averaging 65 degrees,” Khammar said. “We love this weather. We’re just hoping we’re not going to pay the price in July or August, with the rain. Our business is driven by the weather, and adverse weather affects our bottom line.”

Khammar said his staffing system allows for employees to shift locations as needed, so he doesn’t have to hire temporary workers. They might be busier than usual over the next several days, as forecasters predict temperatures rising to 75 degrees on Sunday, and languishing in the 80s next week.

Meteorologists say El Niño is the strongest on record. But after a couple of January soakings, residents across Southe Califoia worked and played in record-setting temperatures, with Long Beach hitting 91 degrees on Monday, beating the 1977 high of 88 degrees, before rainfall hit midweek.

El Niño fans shouldn’t worry though, said Joe Dandrea, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

“It’s still out there doing it’s thing,” he said.

Dandrea said a persistent ridge of high pressure this winter has pushed Pacific Ocean storms away Southe Califoia.

Advertisement

“The ridge has been the dominant feature since mid-January,” Dandrea said. “It’s like a block in the atmosphere. It literally steers things away from us. Beyond the date line, storms have been spiing out there most of the winter. Then they come up against this block.”

Dandrea said an El Niño weather patte doesn’t guarantee rainfall for the region, and that forecasters base some of their predictions on past observations. The weather patte may yet bring the much-predicted deluge, Dandrea said.

“We have to wait until the end of March or April for the numbers,” he said.

Khammar said he keeps on eye on weather forecasts, and hopes El Niño’s delay doesn’t translate into a downpour later this year.

“Meteorologists today, it’s kind of a crapshoot,” he said. “We had no idea we’d have this kind of weather. Everybody was forecasting the doom and gloom of El Niño. Now that they’re modifying their predictions, that’s what’s got us conceed about the months to come.”

- - , .