Summery Weather in Store for Weekend

The mild winds that brought a record temperature to Santa Ana on Thursday are expected to continue producing summery though slightly cooler weather throughout the weekend, forecasters said.

The East Coast’s meteorological misfortune, which has dumped record amounts of snow across New England and the mid-Atlantic states, continues to be West Coast’s good fortune, say forecasters.

On Thursday, Santa Ana posted a record Jan. 11 high of 87 degrees. The previous high for the date was 84 in 1986. Temperatures reached 85 in El Toro, 84 in Anaheim and San Jan Capistrano and 79 in Newport Beach.

Meteorologists say that high-altitude winds that often carry Arctic storms into Southern California at this time of year have been detouring north around a ridge of high pressure stretching across the middle of the state. Storm systems that in the past would have drenched us are instead blanketing other parts of the country.

“While the rest of the nation is having winter,” said Bill Hoffer of the National Weather Service, “Southern California will be having summer.”

Orange County should see sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s or low 80s today. Over the weekend, some clouds should appear and temperatures should drop slightly, with highs expected to range from the low 70s near the beaches to low 80s inland.

Thursday’s weather drove thousands more residents than usual to the shore. For example, at Huntington Beach, where early-January beach crowds usually number around 1,500, more than 5,000 turned out Thursday to enjoy temperatures that reached 79 degrees.

“We had really warm weather down here,” said Lt. Steve Davidson, a city marine safety supervisor. “It was quite a contrast with the East Coast.”