Heat Wave Leaving With Spring Break Crowds

Southern California’s early-season heat wave is coming to an end, and forecasters Thursday predicted a weekend of cooler temperatures along the coast and gusty winds in the mountains and deserts.

Cary Schudy, meteorologist for Earth Environment Service, a private forecasting firm based in San Francisco, said the change was coming because the strong upper-level high pressure area that has hung over the area for the past few days is weakening.

“A strong, dry cold front will be pushing through the state, causing skies to be clearer along the coast and temperatures to be much cooler throughout the Southland,” he said.

National Weather Service forecasters saw it a bit differently: They agreed that it will be cooler but said the front coming through will be moist, causing an increase in cloud cover along the coast that will hang on into the afternoon today and tomorrow.

5 Degrees Cooler

In Orange County on Thursday, the high temperature reached 84 degrees in Santa Ana, about 5 degrees cooler than the previous two days of Easter week.

Steven Hicks, a lifeguard at Huntington Beach State Park, said about 20,000 people turned out at the beach Thursday, down from the crowd of 25,000 Wednesday.

“People started leaving early because of the haze and cloudiness. A little fog started rolling in, too,” Hicks said. The temperature at the beach Thursday reached 68.

In Laguna Beach, the temperature climbed only as high as 63, lifeguard Chris Brown said.

“The weather was definitely a little cooler today. But the swells were better for the surfers, though,” Brown said.

A spokesman for the Air Quality Management District said the smog level in Orange County on Thursday hovered near moderate levels. He said the forecast for today would be the same, with only Fullerton and La Habra possibly experiencing “slightly unhealthful” smog conditions.

Beach temperatures were expected to reach the low 60s this afternoon, dropping back into the high 50s Saturday and Sunday, with ocean temperatures only a degree or two lower, and surf running 2 to 3 feet on a westerly swell and sea breezes rising to 16 m.p.h. in most places.

Southwest Winds

Weekend yachtsmen who keep to inner waters from Point Conception to the Mexican border can expect southwest to west winds rising to 20 knots with 2- to 3-foot seas, while those who venture farther out should find the wind shifting to the northwest and rising to 30 knots on a 5-foot west-to-northwesterly swell.

Southern California mountains are expecting a few clouds along the coastal slopes but otherwise fair skies with afternoon temperatures in the 50s Saturday and Sunday, and gusty southwest winds at resort altitudes. Cloudy to partially cloudy skies were forecast for the Sierra, with a chance of showers near Lake Tahoe and a snow level at 8,000 feet.

Gusty southwest winds were also predicted for the deserts, with temperatures expected to hit the low 80s.

Times staff writer Ray Perez contributed to this story.