Ventura Coast Keeps Its Cool

While most of Southern California sweltered under triple-digit temperatures, western Ventura County was bathed in refreshing ocean breezes that kept temperatures below 85 degrees.

Westerly winds pushed a cool marine layer onshore, maintaining temperatures in the 70s and low 80s in Oxnard, Ventura and Port Hueneme for most of the day. In contrast, other coastal areas to the south, such as Santa Monica, broke the 90-degree mark. To the north, Santa Barbara stayed above 100 degrees during much of the afternoon. Inland, temperatures were even higher.

Meteorologists said coastal cities on the Oxnard Plain luck out because the area is the only break between two mountain ranges up and down the coast, opening a funnel for cooling ocean breezes. On Wednesday, west-northwesterly winds were between 20 m.p.h. and 30 m.p.h.

“That’s your air conditioning right there,” said Bill Hibbert, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc. “The ocean is your saving grace.” In other coastal areas, he said, the winds were not coming directly off the ocean.

The sea breezes and distant mountains sheltered Ventura County from the high-pressure center in the Four Corners area--the spot joining Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah--that is directly responsible for the heat wave. “Ventura is kind of protected and that helps,” said Art Horton of the National Weather Service in Riverside.

Oblivious to the geographical reasons, many people enjoyed another glorious summer day in western Ventura County while other Southern Californians hovered near air-conditioning vents to beat the heat.

At Golf ‘n’ Stuff, a mini-golf course in Ventura off the Ventura Freeway, for example, hundreds of vacationing families took aim with their putters without so much as breaking a sweat.

“I guess we’re pretty lucky,” said Lynell Kogimo of Oxnard, who was at the 10th hole with her husband and her 5-year-old son. “This is Ventura--it’s always consistent out here. A little bit of everything but not too much of one thing.”