Spring to Summer

The sun has returned to Ventura County and, after several weeks of cool, wet weather, it’s feeling warmer than ever to residents across the county.

“We’re approaching summer and it’s about time,” said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. After last week’s cooler weather, “people were just beginning to think that’s the way things were.”

Seto said the high temperature has jumped about 10 degrees since Sunday, when a powerful late-season storm from earlier in the week continued to keep temperatures cool.

Highs Tuesday were in the upper 70s in Oxnard and Ventura, and 87 degrees in the eastern part of the county--far short of the record high of 97 in 1996. Ojai was the hottest spot in the county at 90 degrees, below the record of 94 set in 1965.

A high-pressure system and winds from the north have helped generate recent warmth in the county, Seto said.

Meteorologists expect the warm weather to continue through today and cool off again Thursday and Friday when another storm system moves through. No rain is expected, and temperatures are expected to warm up again Sunday.

“You’re starting to get into the warm, breezy season,” said Stacey Johnstone of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

Tuesday’s weather was ideal for students lucky enough to have this week off--and for the businesses that cater to them.

“We’re cranking,” said Dave Blaser, a manager at Golf N’ Stuff in Ventura, where teenagers had come from over the Conejo Grade to play. “We’ve got our staff working hard, but we can’t complain business-wise.”

At the upscale Promenade at Westlake shopping center in Thousand Oaks, David Thomas wiped sweat from his brow as he collected signatures for a proposed ballot initiative that would compel the county to turn over more than $260 million in tobacco settlement money to private health-care providers.

“You know when it’s hot, you don’t have the patience for people,” said the Los Angeles resident, who was hired by Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, sponsor of the measure. “If they’re not going to sign it, then they should just scoot along.”

Thomas, 24, said about 30 people had signed his petition in the four hours he had been at the center.

Thousand Oaks resident Nancy Case, enjoying a week’s vacation from work, said she didn’t mind the heat in the least.

“I’m always at work in an air-conditioned building,” said Case, who is a buyer for Robinsons-May. “I’m trying to get as much fresh air as possible.”

Sitting under the shade of an umbrella outside an ice cream shop at the outdoor mall, she watched as her two sons, on spring break from Madrona School, lolled by a fountain. Earlier in the day, her husband, Steve, and the two boys--Matthew, 5, and David, 9--picnicked at a nearby park.

“This is better than being in North Hollywood, where my office is,” she said. “Here, it seems like it’s always 15 degrees cooler. We get the ocean breeze at least.”

Surman is Times staff writer. Cooper is a Times Community News reporter.