Word for the Week: Warm : Santa Ana Winds and Sunny Skies Are Expected to Stick Around

Dig out a few more warm-weather clothes, because balmy temperatures and sunny skies are expected to dominate Orange County this week.

Unseasonably warm winds blowing from the northeast continued to push moist marine air out to sea Monday, meteorologists said. That allowed the mercury to climb to 87 degrees in Santa Ana, which shared the mantle as the nation’s hot spot.

But the warm Santa Ana winds that had raked the Southland with gusts to nearly 60 m.p.h. over the weekend had diminished by midafternoon Monday to an average of 36 m.p.h. Only a weak Santa Ana condition was expected to linger today and Wednesday, producing winds averaging 25 m.p.h. or less, said Stephanie Hunter, meteorologist for WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

“That high pressure system over Nevada will control your weather for the next week or so,” Hunter said Monday. “It won’t be quite as high as 87 degrees, but temperatures over the next several days will be much warmer than normal.”

Fair, sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s and low to middle 80s were forecast for much of Orange County today through Saturday. Some high cloudiness was expected to creep into the region on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

Predictably, the soaring temperatures sent thousands scurrying to Orange County beaches.

“It was pretty crowded today for an off-season day,” said lifeguard Robert Thomas in Huntington Beach, where nearly 20,000 people packed the sands.

Most chose to wade close to shore in 60-degree water with riptide conditions and surf ranging from two to four feet.

Nearly 10,000 sunbathers crowded Laguna Beach, where picture-perfect blue seas and skies made for “absolutely a summer day,” said city lifeguard Mike Dwinell.

“It was just an ideal day for the beach,” added San Clemente lifeguard Richard Erkeneff.

There were surprisingly few sailors out enjoying the balmy breezes in Newport Harbor, but Lt. Tom Wallstrom of the Orange County Sheriff’s Harbor Patrol predicted that would change before sunset.

“I suspect everybody’s going to be beating their feet to their new Christmas toys,” Wallstrom said.

At local schools, the warm weather provided a respite from the rainy, cold days of just a few weeks ago.

“It was nice to be outdoors again,” said James Luft, principal at Anaheim Hills Elementary School. “Two weeks ago we were cooped up inside for two weeks. It’s nice to get back outside again.”

Monday’s high was just two degrees shy of the 89-degree record for a Feb. 24 in Orange County, set in Anaheim in 1951. Normally, daytime temperatures in February average 68 or 69 in Santa Ana and 67 in El Toro, according to the National Weather Service.

Santa Ana tied for the nation’s high temperature Monday with Monrovia and San Gabriel in Los Angeles County, with Fallbrook in San Diego County and with McAllen, Tex., the National Weather Service reported.

The warmer-than-normal weather was expected to bode well for local growers, especially after recent downpours, said John Ellis, deputy agricultural commissioner for Orange County.

“For the majority of growers, it will probably be good,” Ellis said. “There may be a unique situation where a certain kind of plant, like citrus, may (be pushed) into a fast-growing phase and not produce as much.”

Even that would only be a problem for young trees, he said. Overall, the brief spate of warm winds and sunshine may help farmers prepare for spring planting of squash, cucumber, tomato and green bean crops.

“It will be a benefit to the growers to have the warmer weather to dry out some of the (waterlogged) ground,” Ellis said.

The same rains that soaked Orange County fields also have produced a spurt of “green up,” quick-growing plants that hold considerable moisture and have helped to keep the fire hazard low despite warm, dry winds and unseasonably high temperatures.

This new growth is “hard to burn because it has so much moisture in it,” said Jon Anderson, hazard reduction supervisor for the Orange County Fire Department.

Times staff writer James Gomez contributed to this report.

Monday’s High Temps A high pressure system sitting over Nevada is sending warm winds west, which push the moist marine layer off the Orange County coast. Temperatures for selected cities: Los Alamitos: 95 Fullerton: 83 Anaheim: 85 Santa Ana: 87 Newport Beach: 86 Irvine: 86 Lake Forest: 84 San Juan Capistrano: 81 Dana Point: 78 Source: National Weather Service