O.C. Hits 99 on Heat Parade--Tops in U.S.

Thermometers in El Toro topped all others in the United States on Saturday as a record-breaking heat wave gripped Orange County, driving thousands of people to the beaches and local parks and prompting nervous fire officials to watch the tinder-dry hills.

The almost bone-dry heat was expected to cook the Southland throughout the holiday weekend, ensuring that today’s Veterans Day observances would be awash in summer-like weather, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

Burback said that temperatures in the unincorporated South County community of El Toro reached 99 degrees, making it the hottest spot in the country.

“I don’t have anything warmer, not even in the deserts,” Burback said.

The hot spell, exacerbated by almost no wind, was expected to begin easing up Tuesday, with a marked drop in the mercury by Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to fall back to the 70s.

That was good news for organizers of today’s wreath-laying ceremony at the El Toro Memorial Park on Trabuco Road, who watched their Memorial Day wreath-laying plans wash out due to rainy weather.

“That’s super. I love it,” said Georgia Bent, a spokeswoman for the hourlong Veterans Day ceremony, which will include readings of a selection of letters from service personnel stationed in the Persian Gulf.

But the heat wave caused fire officials to worry that any resumption of Santa Ana winds may spell trouble in the parched canyons around the county. If winds begin blowing to about 25 m.p.h., Young said, the department’s stations will be put on red-flag warning and strike teams will be staged in at least two areas.

“This weekend, we will monitor (the hills) real closely,” Orange County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young said. “The message to get out there is that fire season is not over.”

Outside of El Toro, other cities, including Huntington Beach, which is normally cooled by ocean breezes, produced temperatures that rose above 90 degrees, meteorologist Burback said. In fact, he added, most cities were reporting temperatures more than 20 degrees above the average for this time of November.

At 12:30 p.m., a bank sign located a few blocks from the Huntington Beach Municipal Pier flashed a temperature reading of 96 degrees.

Temperatures throughout the area topped the county’s record of 94 degrees, set in 1956 in Santa Ana. (Historical temperature records are kept only for Santa Ana.) Santa Ana’s high temperature for Saturday was 93 degrees.

The Los Angeles Civic Center reported 93 degrees, tying the record set for the date in 1956. Los Angeles International Airport also recorded a high of 93 degrees. High temperatures in other cities included: Long Beach, 96; Montebello, 92; Torrance, 92, and Woodland Hills, 91. The relative humidity ranged from 13% to 42%.

Burback said the heat wave was due to a high-pressure zone that has been trapped above the entire West Coast for the past few days by two low-pressure troughs, one in the Pacific Ocean and one over the Northeast.

On Saturday, the unusual weather transformed the fall season into just another summer day, turning people’s attentions to thoughts of outdoor recreation.

By the tens of thousands, Orange County residents attempted to beat the heat by wading or surfing in the unusually warm waters of the county’s beaches or just relaxing under the shade trees of the county’s regional parks.

Surfer Lloyd Ly, 25, paddled out into the water south of the Huntington Beach pier about 10 a.m. But by noon, he was finally forced back to shore to peel off his blue, orange and black wet suit.

“You can’t sit out there on your board for more than about five minutes without beginning to sweat,” Ly said, adding that the only way to stay comfortable in his suit was to repeatedly slide off the board and into the 65-degree water. “I can’t believe it’s this hot. It’s hotter than the summer was.”

Neither could Mike Murray, a transplant from Ohio, who stood ankle deep in the surf and expertly twirled a Frisbee.

“Now this is nice,” said Murray, clad only in baggy trunks, as he practiced for a Frisbee spinning competition. “I’ll call home today to a couple of friends of mine to rub it in.”

Although some halfheartedly groused about the unseasonably warm weather that hit the coast 12 days before Thanksgiving, most cheerfully basked in the luxurious weather.

“It is just unbelievably wonderful,” said Moshe Ovadia, a 35-year-old Miami resident who was visiting his sister for the weekend. The two were savoring the dry heat as they strolled around a lake at Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Regional Park.

“I came prepared for a different kind of weather,” he said, pointing to his long pants as others around him jogged along the footpath in neon-colored shorts. “But I’m very pleasantly surprised.”

At Rancho La Cienega Recreation Center in southwest Los Angeles, children were lined up waiting to get into the pool at its 2 p.m. opening time.

“Last week, they came bundled up in jackets and warm clothes,” said Deven Bouchet, the weekend pool manager. “Today, they were in T-shirts and shorts, some of them carrying skateboards.”

Lifeguard Mitch White said that about 20,000 people made the trek to Newport Beach to cool off in the water. Thousands more, however, crowded the streets of the coastal city to stroll along Balboa Peninsula.

“A lot of people are just walking around,” White said. “It’s a great day.”

Although the official high temperature for the city was 80 degrees, White said it reached 87 at the lifeguard station, located on Newport Pier.

“It felt like a blisteringly hot day here,” he said. “I almost fainted.”

TEMPERATURES SOAR Summer-like mercury readings broke recoerds and sent Orange County residents in search of cooling recreation Saturday. El Toro: 99 San Juan Capistrano: 97 Santa Ana: 93 Anaheim: 92 Newport Beach: 80