Sunny Satisfaction

The massive storm engulfing the East Coast sent ripples 3,000 miles away to sunny Southern California on Monday.

The murder trial of rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg had to be delayed after the judge got stranded in Connecticut. Hundreds of travelers at Los Angeles International Airport found themselves trapped amid canceled flights. And busy television executives couldn’t reach their New York offices, where many workers had been sent home as states of emergency were declared across the Eastern Seaboard.

Yet for all the problems caused by the blizzard, many Southern Californians seemed to derive a sense of satisfaction in watching another part of the country slog through a natural disaster.

“I have a friend in Detroit whose dog won’t even go outside because it’s so cold, and I was joking with him about my tough choices today, golf or surfing,” said Patrick G. Rogan, a member of the Malibu Surfing Assn. “We surely hate to see them suffer out there. I try not to rub it in.”

Rogan and others across Southern California spent Monday indulging in the warm weather. Joggers ran along the beach in Venice. Tourists enjoyed lunch at outdoor cafes in Santa Monica.

Indeed, local temperatures appeared far more like summer than winter. The city of Hemet in Riverside County recorded the highest temperature--84 degrees--in the country on Monday. The high in downtown Los Angeles was 80 degrees and Anaheim registered 78 degrees. Ironically, the unusually warm weather is related to the miserable conditions on the East Coast.

Meteorologists say that high-altitude jet stream winds, which often carry arctic storms into Southern California at this time of year, have been detouring north around a ridge of high pressure stretching across the middle of the state.

Storm systems that in past years would have drenched us are instead blanketing Midwestern and Atlantic Coast states with record snowfalls.

Residents on the East Coast didn’t care much about scientific explanations. They simply wanted a break from the cold and from Californians’ messages.

“My mother called and left a message this morning, saying, ‘Hi, honey, it’s sunny today, I hope you’re having fun,’ ” said Audi Russakov, an international marketer who lives in New York City.

Others living in eastern states said they were surprised that they hadn’t heard from their friends out West.

“I remember when the earthquake happened out there, the phone lines were jammed with calls for days, weren’t they?” said Reena Racki, a Washington architect who stayed home from work Monday. “I guess you all don’t think snow on the East Coast is any big deal.”

To Jeremy Nicholls, the snow is a big deal. Nicholls was stranded at LAX, waiting for a flight to his home in Washington.

The computer programmer spent 11 hours flying from Auckland, New Zealand, and arrived in Los Angeles on Sunday only to learn that he would have to wait possibly until Wednesday to finish his journey.

“I wish I was going to Texas,” said Nicholls, 22. “I know it’s not snowing in Texas.”

United Airlines put Nicholls up at a nearby hotel but he couldn’t wait to get out of town. He planned to show up at the United terminal first thing today in hopes of catching a flight to New York.

“There’s nothing to do but sit in the hotel,” he said.

At least one group of people sought to put a positive spin on the bad weather--drum up some business at the same time.

A San Diego advertising agency announced a contest on Monday, offering snowbound New Yorkers a free trip once that city’s airports reopen. In a press release, the agency told New Yorkers to write a one-page summary about why they should win the weekend getaway to La Jolla and Rosarito Beach, Mexico.

Who could resist a trip to a sunny beach, the agency reasoned.

“We always feel so guilty this time of year when bad weather hits the East Coast and here we are basking in warm, sunny, ‘winter’ weather in San Diego,” said Sheila Fox, president of Chapman Warwick Advertising & Public Relations. “As the slogan says, ‘San Diego is always in season.’ ”

Times staff writers Eric Malnic, Tina Daunt and Jill Leovy contributed to this story.