Weather in review

WEATHER TIDBITS

Time to close the books on ’02.

Pretty quiet year, I’d say -- almost like a blur.

Few noteworthy events occurred.

Summer was cooler than normal again for the fourth consecutive

summer, as were ocean temps. October was horrible, more like June.

It was the year of the winds. You could count the number of glassy

days on one hand.

The surf was miserable until August. Since then, it’s been

wonderful.

Hurricanes Fausto and Hernan whipped up some big south swells. Two

macking southern hemis followed in September.

October took the month off, plus it was hazy, cold and gloomy.

Since the onset of November, the North Pacific has been sending

swell after swell our way, putting places like Rinion and Blacks in

the epic category on several occasions.

The period from New Year’s till July 1 saw only 2.18 inches of

rain fall, but from July 1 to Dec. 31 we got 5.25 inches, and boy,

did we need it!

Watch out for ’03. It’s going to be a lot wilder. Stay tuned.

* DENNIS McTIGHE is a Laguna Beach resident. He earned a

bachelor’s in earth sciences from UCSD.