Weekend Opener Leaves ‘Em Cold

The unofficial first day of summer was a disappointment for people who hit the beaches and parks looking for fun in the sun. But Saturday’s overcast, blustery weather may give way to more consistent sunshine and higher temperatures today.

“It’s freezing,” said 15-year-old Briana Carrera, who was sunbathing with a friend near the Huntington Beach Pier. “I just hope I can still get a tan.”

Bikinis? Swim trunks? Hardly. Sweatshirts and blankets were the attire of the day.

“When we left the house this morning it was sprinkling, but we wanted to come so bad,” said 23-year-old Betty Villa, whose family was visiting Huntington Beach. “If it rains, it rains. We just wanted to get away from the city.”

Gloomy morning and early afternoon skies didn’t yield any rain. But temperatures were a wintry upper 60s at the beaches and barely above 70 inland. The good news is that it will be slightly warmer and less windy today and on Memorial Day, forecasters said.

Lifeguards were prepared for the large crowds that typically come with the start of the three-day holiday weekend. Newport Beach Marine Safety Lt. Eric Bauer said that in hot weather, about 100,000 usually flock to the shore, but only 35,000 showed up Saturday.

“People are kind of bundled up and not a lot of them are going into the water,” Bauer said. “Compared to how the weather has been the rest of the month, [Saturday] was kind of anticlimactic.”

At Huntington Beach’s 3.5-mile stretch of shore between Beach Boulevard and the pier, about 25,000 people turned out, compared with about 50,000 on the same day last year, Marine Safety Lt. Steve Davidson said.

“It’s been a bit blustery and the water is chilly,” Davidson said. “I think that discouraged a lot of people.”

But the lower temperatures didn’t bother some, like 32-year-old Louie Aguilar, who was fishing off the pier.

“It’s just nice to come out here,” said Aguilar, a resident of Buena Park. “You know what they say: ‘A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.’ ”

Josie Casteneda’s enthusiasm wasn’t dampened either.

The 49-year-old La Puente woman had just bought her 10-year-old son a wetsuit and a boogie board for his first visit to the beach. Sitting underneath a giant umbrella designed to look like a slice of watermelon, Casteneda smiled as she watched the boy ride some waves.

“I told him last night that it was very cloudy but decided that either way, we were going to come here,” she said. “And now that we are here, it is excellent.”

At Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, there was a scattering of birthday parties and picnics in the cool breeze.

“It’s perfect today,” 22-year-old Matt Miller said. “I thought I’d come read a book at the park instead of sitting inside watching television.”

Fountain Valley resident Micki Oguri, 70, sat on a bench next to a lake and had no complaints either: “Weather is really a matter of taste. I remember flying into Point Barrow in Alaska in snow flurries and there were Eskimos outside playing softball in T-shirts. So today really is quite beautiful.”