O.C. Sizzles; Beaches Get Big Crowds

The Memorial Day weekend delivered a blast of holiday heat on Saturday--breaking Santa Ana’s 32-year record temperature for late May as the mercury soared to 92.

Residents throughout the county sought sun, fun and cool ocean breezes, doubling typical weekend attendance at many beaches, authorities said.

At Huntington Beach State Park, about 20,000 people were on the shores. Although there was just small surf, lifeguards rescued about 25 swimmers, authorities said.

San Clemente lifeguards reported only three rescues. The crowd of about 15,000 started showing up early to catch the Professional Surfing Tour of America contest.

“Our main beaches were really crowded and our towers all are open and a couple are double-manned,” said Lifeguard Matt Squires. “We haven’t had much rescue activity because of the small surf, but we normally have about six or seven thousand people, so we’re treating this like it’s a normal summer day.”

The ridge of high pressure causing the intense heat will continue to strengthen today, but begin to decrease by Monday, according to meteorologist Amy Talmage at Weatherdata Inc., which provides forecasts to The Times.

On Saturday, the mercury hit 99 degrees in Lake Forest, and 94 in Garden Grove. Orange hit 92 degrees.

Talmage said the few days of unusually high temperatures don’t necessarily augur a hot summer.