SADDLEBACK / SOUTH BEACH : Heat Wave Should Take Leave Today

A record-breaking heat wave during the weekend will not extend into today’s Veterans Day activities, and the mercury is expected to continue dropping until Wednesday, when 70-degree weather is predicted.

The two-day hot spell, exacerbated by low-wind conditions, will begin easing by today, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather forecasts for the Times.

On Sunday, hot, dry weather sent thousands of people outdoors to the parks and the beaches. In Newport Beach, where cooler temperatures prevailed, the high was a comfortable 78.

Anaheim reported 92 degrees, just two degrees cooler than the 94 achieved in Ventura County’s Santa Paula, the hottest spot in the nation on Sunday, Burback said.

Los Angeles County’s Monrovia and San Gabriel both reported 93 degrees.

The weekend heat wave was attributed to a high pressure zone trapped above the entire West Coast for the past several days by two low pressure troughs, one in the Pacific Ocean and one over the Northeast.

On Saturday, El Toro reported 99 degrees, making it the nation’s hot spot. But the warm easterly winds abated and onshore breezes blew over El Toro, cooling it to 83 on Sunday, Burback said.

A Pacific Northwest storm is expected to cool things off to the 70s and high 60s beginning Tuesday, and extending through Thursday, before it warms up again on Friday.

Burback said the storm front should also bring some fairly moderate breezes and higher surf.