4th of July Forecast Calls for Nice Night for Fireworks

A forecaster said it should be a nice night for fireworks after a partly sunny Independence Day that will feature a muscle contest on Venice Beach and a rubber ducky race on the Venice Canals.

Temperatures will be on the cool side Wednesday with a daytime high around 70 degrees in the Venice-Mar Vista area, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

"The marine layer is not going to burn off very much, if at all, but it'll probably thin out probably around noonish or so," Seto said. The scattered clouds will turn to larger broken clouds around 6 p.m., Seto said.

The forecast for the cloud cover at 9 p.m., when the fireworks go off in Marina del Rey, calls for scattered to broken clouds at the 1,500 to 2,000-feet level.

"It's probably a little bit above firework level," said Seto, whose intuition was confirmed by several Web sites that said the highest rockets typically explode between 1,000- and 1,500-feet. Visibility should also be good at about six miles, Seto said.

The water temperature in Marina del Rey is 63 degrees.

The forecast calls for a high of 70 degrees Wednesday with clouds through mid-morning and then gradual clearing, Seto said.

The weather is fairly typical with Los Angeles International Airport reporting a high of 73 degrees normally at this time of the year, Seto said.

The cooler weather isn't likely to deter crowds, said Los Angeles County Lifeguard Kyle Daniels.

"We're expecting the normal Fourth of July crowd, which is usually our busiest day of the year," he said.

Each of the 158 lifeguard towers along the L.A. county coast will be fully staffed and a back-up crew will be on call, Daniels said.

Visitors to Venice Beach can expect heavy traffic and a police presence that already has been bolstered by an additional 50 officers for the summer.

An amateur muscle contest will be held Independence Day with the free Mr. & Mrs. Muscle Beach contest at the Venice Recreation Center, 1800 Ocean Front Walk. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m. for competitors, with pre-judging starting at 10 a.m. and the finals at 1 p.m. For further info, visit MuscleBeachVenice.com.

Over in the Venice Canals, the 8th annual Rubber Ducky Race will take place at 1:30 p.m. with rubber duckies being sold from 10 a.m. to 1:15 for $5 by the Venice Canals Association. The Linnie Canal Downwind Regatta featuring wind-powered watercraft only will start at 1:45 p.m. with the kids division and the adults will set sail at 2 p.m.

The 4th of July fireworks show will return to Marina del Rey after being canceled last year due to budget constraints. Sponsors stepped up for this year's show that will start promptly at 9 p.m. from a barge in the main channel near the south jetty and will last about 20 minutes.

The display by Zambelli Fireworks Internationale of Italy will be choreographed to patriotic music that will be broadcast in synch on KXLU-FM, 88.9, and broadcast over loudspeakers at Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey. About 25,000 people were expected to attend.

Prime viewing spots include Burton Chace Park and Fisherman's Village, as well as beaches in Playa del Rey and Venice. Parking will be available in county lots in the marina for $7 to $10 and at Fisherman's Village for $1 per 20 minutes, with a $10 maximum.

The Independence Day celebrations will mark the 236th birthday of the United States and also is the .

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(Patch editor Jenna Chandler contributed to this report.)