A Taste of Summer : Weather: Unseasonably warm and smoggy air hits the county over the weekend. Cooler temperatures are expected, but pollution is moving inland.

Near-record heat that swept across Ventura County over the weekend eased Monday, but unusually heavy April smog was expected to push today into the east county.

The air pollution and the unseasonably warm temperature, which matched the 1987 record high of 82 degrees Sunday at the Navy’s Point Mugu weather station, hit the county just before the smog season officially begins May 1.

“It looks like it’s going to be a long summer if we’re starting to get this already,” said Philip Moyal, a meteorologist with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

Temperatures were expected to continue cooling today inland and along the coast, where night and morning fog is expected this week.

Air pollution, which approached the unhealthful level in some coastal areas Monday, was expected to move inland today, leaving good air quality along the coast and pushing the polluted air mass east into Simi Valley.

“That’s normal for Simi,” said Moyal. “They get all of Ventura’s pollution.”

Hospitals noted no increase in admissions caused by heat problems over the weekend, but Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley Hospital reported a rise in the number of people who sought treatment for allergies.

“With the heat, we have east winds,” said Dr. Lewis Kanter, a Simi Valley allergist. “So instead of the clean air that comes off the ocean, we have air with all the contaminants from the San Fernando Valley. And we have all the pollen from the green hills around Lancaster.”

Temperatures reached the mid-80s in Simi Valley over the weekend and topped out in the low 80s on the coast.

Temperatures were expected to be in the low 70s today along the coast and in the low 80s inland.

Weekend Santa Ana wind conditions pushed contaminated air from Simi Valley and the rest of Ventura County west to the usually clear coast.

But a Pacific storm moving into Central California today prompted the change in wind direction, allowing the prevailing westerly breeze to kick in Monday.

Thousands of people drove to the beaches over the weekend to lie in the sun and play in the 60-degree water, which is also unusually warm for April, said Curtis Lee Price, a lifeguard with the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

“It looks like a warm summer. It’s beautiful, especially compared to last year,” he said, recalling one of Ventura’s foggiest summers on record.