Southland Basking in Brief Autumn Encore of Summer’s Warmth

An unexpected burst of summery weather Sunday sent Orange County residents streaming out of their homes to bake their bodies at local beaches, parks and festivals.

Newport Beach drew between 40,000 and 45,000 sun worshipers who didn’t seem to mind a little wind Sunday, said lifeguard Jim Turner, and “for this time of year that was considered real good.”

“It was real nice,” Turner said. “A lot of people who sweated yesterday afternoon had a real nice day. All the people who stayed home yesterday and said it was awful came to the beach today . . . had a wonderful time, picked up their trash and went home.”

About 12,000 people took their tanning oil out to Huntington Beach, which was “a relatively large crowd, considering it was October,” said lifeguard John Barth. Although summer beach days average 30,000 in Huntington Beach, only an average of about 2,000 show up during the off-season.

“It was actually more like a summer weekend” at San Clemente City Beach, according to Richard Chew, lifeguard supervisor there. An estimated 8,000 poured out to the south county beach, where the high temperature never passed 76 degrees.

“Nothing major or newsworthy happened,” Chew said. “It was just nice aesthetics, good reflections off the water.”

Another 7,000 crowded onto Seal Beach to tan their hides--down from the usual summer crowds of 12,000, but high for this late in the year.

“Usually this time of year, if we get more than 1,000, the beach is crowded,” lifeguard Tim Seymour said.

By contrast, an estimated 30,000 fire eaters flocked to Centennial Park in Santa Ana to warm their insides at the 1986 Coors Western U.S. Menudo Championships, where chefs vied to see who could make the best menudo--a stew of tripe, hominy, cilantro, chili and other ingredients touted as a remedy for colds and hangovers.

Though unseasonably warm, county temperatures broke no records Sunday. In Newport Beach and El Toro, the high temperature was 91 degrees. Santa Ana posted a high of 90 degrees, with San Juan Capistrano recording a high of 80. The highest temperature reached on an Oct. 5 in the last 97 years was a scorching 105 in Anaheim in 1953, according to Jim Sleeper’s Orange County Almanac.

A high-pressure system that spawned the hot dry northeast winds known as Santa Anas showed signs of weakening Sunday, prompting the National Weather Service to forecast a cooling trend for the beginning of the week, with variable cloudiness and low temperatures tonight ranging from 54 to 60 degrees.

The high temperatures for today and Tuesday should drop to the high 70s for inland areas and to the high 60s and low 70s at beaches. The forecast called for a chance of afternoon and evening showers and possible thunderstorms in Southland desert and mountain areas today and Tuesday.