Warm Temperatures Expected to Dissipate

The unseasonably warm temperatures that drove thousands of Ventura County residents to the beach Sunday are expected to dissipate by this morning, leaving the county with clear skies and daytime temperatures ranging from the mid- to high 70s, weather forecasters said.

“We had a pretty good-sized crowd out today; it was easily our busiest day since last Labor Day,” said Lifeguard Craig Sap, who works at San Buenaventura State Beach. “I think it was a mixture of cabin fever and the temperatures that drove people out here.”

Sap said that despite the large crowds, lifeguards at Ventura State Beach had few major rescues due to water temperatures hovering in the high 50s.

“Another five degrees warmer and we would have had some problems,” he said.

Fueled by a strong Santa Ana condition, highs in the county Sunday reached near 90 degrees in Camarillo, with the temperatures only slightly cooler in Oxnard and Ventura, according to Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts to The Times.

Thoren said wind gusts bordered on 30 m.p.h. in some areas of the county. Overnight low temperatures are expected to fall to the mid-50s.

“The Santa Anas you got were a lot stronger than we originally thought,” he said. “That’s why you saw those temperatures. That’s pretty unusual for this time of year.”

Thoren said the cooling trend is expected to chauffeur in a weak Gulf of Alaska-bred rain storm beginning Wednesday afternoon.