Residents Seek Relief From Santa Ana Winds at Beaches

On a fall weekend, when beach-goers park their lounge chairs not just at water’s edge but actually in the big blue drink, it’s a clear signal that the Santa Ana winds are in town and people have become just tad desperate.

“It’s not a normal sight,” said Huntington City Beach operations Lt. Steve Seim, who watched Sunday as parched people took to the ocean for relief from soaring temperatures and plunging humidity.

The feisty winds, bringing in desert air from the Great Basin states, pushed temperatures up to 99 degrees in Anaheim, 98 in Santa Ana and Lake Forest and the mid-80s in the beach cities, according to WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for the Times. Humidity was measured at 13% in Santa Ana, compared to a usual level of about 50% in October.

The heat didn’t break the Orange County record--which stands at 104 degrees in Santa Ana on Oct. 9, 1976--but it did drive tens of thousands of people to county beaches to enjoy the warm season’s last gasps.

“It’s almost too hot out here,” said Awbrey Sottosant, 20, between sips of a 64-ounce Coke she was sharing with her friend outside a pizza parlor near the San Clemente Pier Sunday.

“We’ve been jumping into the water all day,” she said. “It’s a little cold in the ocean, but that’s what we want.”

Ocean temperatures hovered between 65 and 70 degrees, according to lifeguards’ estimates--not bad for October. But even for those who weren’t inclined to take the plunge, the beach was the place to be. It was better, at least, than the stifling indoors.

Dick and Anita Kennedy, in their 70s, fled their San Clemente house for a cool spot under a tree on a grassy hill near the pier.

“We came down here to catch some of the breeze,” Anita Kennedy said.

Winds in Santa Ana Sunday were estimated to be moving at about 10 m.p.h. The winds are expected to relent somewhat today, with high temperatures dropping to the upper 80s and low 90s, said WeatherData meteorologist Kris Farnsworth. The cooling trend will continue through Tuesday, he said, when temperatures are anticipated in the low to mid-80s.

The usual coastal fog and clouds are expected to return by Tuesday night, Farnsworth said.