Hot Christmas In Southern CA

Other areas of the country may be getting snow, ice or other bits of weather to remind them what time of the year it is — but in southern California, residents are retreating to the beach to escape the heat.

On Christmas morning, the beaches of Los Angeles were packed with surfers and sunbathers, with no shortage of outdoor enthusiasts taking part in other recreational activities.

“I usually spend (Christmas) in a very, very cold Boston,” Christine Lam said during her beach picnic. “It’s nice to have a second family. All of our friends, we decided to have a picnic together”

Meanwhile, many local residents told CBS2′s Tom Wait that, while some people may be enjoying snow in parts of the country, their friends and relatives spending Christmas in colder temperatures confessed themselves jealous of Los Angeles’ weather.

“I lived in Connecticut, and I’ve been rubbing it in their face all day long how beautiful it is out here,” Nancy Daniels said.

In fact, the only display of escalated weather in the Southland on Christmas proved to be a spike in wind in parts of the valley. Over 5,000 residents in Simi Valley lost power on Christmas morning, with high wind as the suspected culprit.

“It feels like winter, even though it’s hot,” Simi resident Guss Fauci said. “All our decorations blew down, but nothing is going to spoil Christmas for us.”

Edison was able to restore power to the majority of the effected houses by noon. Other houses are expecting to have their power back by 11 p.m.

In the meantime, for anyone wanting to experience more of a tradition winter feel, there is no shortage in ice skating as an option. The ice staking rink is located at 5th and Arizona.