Spring Gets a Warm Welcome That Sets Records

Officially, the calendar called it the first day of spring. But Sunday felt more like the first day of summer, with Orange County temperatures soaring to a record 90 degrees and hordes of people jamming beaches as if it were a Fourth of July weekend.

For other county residents intent on springtime cultivation, the unusually high temperatures spelled sweaty yard work.

Both San Juan Capistrano and Santa Ana posted highs of 90 degrees, breaking the 86-degree record that had stood since 1931.

El Toro warmed to 85 degrees, and in Newport Beach, where sands were the most crowded Sunday, thermometers reached highs of 75 degrees.

Gordon Reed, the lifeguard supervisor at Newport Beach, said more than 100,000 people packed the city’s beaches, and strong 4-to-5-foot swells kept lifeguards busy.

A Dozen Rescues

“It was like a really big summer weekend crowd. The swell was good and we probably had about a dozen rescues,” Reed said. “We were kept very busy.”

At Huntington Beach, the news was the same. Lifeguard Kai Weisser said about 30,000 people crowded onto the city’s beach and lifeguards recorded 20 rescues, four more than the 16 on Saturday.

“We’ve just been really busy all day long,” Weisser said.

The unseasonably high temperatures, which were about 15 degrees warmer than usual for the first day of spring, were brought on by an absence of marine breezes, said meteorologist Dan Bowman of WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

“The clear skies and the light northeast winds were preventing any marine air to flow inland. That makes conditions dry and easy to heat up,” Bowman said.

However, a cold front stationed off the coasts of Washington and Oregon on Sunday was expected to reach Orange County by late tonight, bringing temperatures back down to normal, he said. By shifting winds to a southwesterly direction, the cold front will let cooler marine air to move inland.

WeatherData predicted that temperatures would reach about 80 today, dropping to the mid-70s for the next few days. Overnight lows were expected to drop to about 50 degrees.

Dennis Brasher welcomed Sunday’s heat because he was putting in about 200 square feet of new Bluegrass sod in his Huntington Beach yard.

The 55-year-old engineer for a defense contractor, spent his Sunday loading 5-foot squares of new grass at Mel’s Goldenwest Nursery in Huntington Beach.

“I’d rather be out running, but this is OK since I’m putting the new sod in the shade,” said the shirtless veteran of 15 years of marathon races.

Inside the nursery, Gerry Wampler was grateful for the hot temperatures that ushered in the first day of spring.

Wampler, the owner’s son, said business was probably up by 20% because of the warm weather.

“Color. We sold a lot of color today, just a lot of flowers,” Wampler said. “There were a lot of people out here buying flowers and fruit trees. It was a great day.”