Summer Preview : Beaches Jammed as Temperatures Soar on Santa Ana Winds

Thanks to unseasonal Santa Ana winds on Sunday, temperatures throughout Orange County were about 20 degrees higher than normal, sending thousands of people to area beaches for an early taste of summer.

Temperatures reached 89 degrees in Santa Ana and Newport Beach, 87 in El Toro and 85 in Fullerton. Los Angeles broke a 68-year-old record for the date of 88 degrees when the mercury reached 89 at the Civic Center. San Diego, which reached 86 degrees, broke its 1951 record of 82.

“You usually get the Santa Ana winds in the fall, but every once in a while, the conditions are just right for it to happen in the spring” or winter, said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

Thoren said the Santa Ana winds were created from a high-pressure system over Nevada that pushed warm, dry air from the mountains toward Southern California.

Today, temperatures are expected to range from the upper 70s to low 80s. They should drop by Tuesday as the winds die down and cooler breezes blow in from the Pacific. By Wednesday, daytime temperatures should be in the 60s and low 70s, Thoren said.

On Sunday, lifeguards at beaches from San Clemente to Huntington Beach reported unusually high numbers of beach-goers seeking sun and fun.

At Laguna Beach, lifeguard Mark Klosterman said nearly 30,000 people descended on the 3 1/2 miles of beach he patrols. The number on a typical mid-March day is about 5,000, he said.

“It was like a summer day today. The parking lot was nearly full,” Klosterman said. “There was heavy traffic on Pacific Coast Highway in both directions. It almost looked like the Fourth of July today.”

While sun seekers enjoyed the day’s warmth, Klosterman’s four-member crew had to work extra hard to keep things safe on the beach. Currently at winter staffing levels, the crew has nearly 40 members during summer months, when crowds of 30,000 to 35,000 people are common.

Klosterman said his crew made three rescues Sunday and would have had to make more had the ocean temperature been warmer than a chilly 57 degrees.

Huntington Beach lifeguard Matt Karl said 40,000 people, twice the average for this time of year, brought their lounge chairs, suntan lotion and cold drinks to the beach.

“By far, this is the biggest crowd this year,” Karl said.

In Dana Point, thousands of people took to the ocean on sailboats, jet skis, powerboats and sail boards. Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol spokesman Jean Joyce said there was a “tremendous” increase in sea lovers compared to the past several weekends.

“Happily, there were no accidents or problems reported either,” Joyce said.

In Newport Beach, a manager of the Fisherman Restaurant and Bar on Newport Pier said the place was filled nearly to capacity as 180 patrons sat on the wood deck patio area on Sunday. Darren Yanosy said that the suddenly appearing crowd “was sometimes hard to handle” and that the biggest sellers of the day were steamed clams and light beer.