Here, It Was a Winter’s Day in Name Only

Although much of the rest of the country was still locked in winter, Orange County was basking in springlike temperatures on the Presidents’ Day holiday Monday.

Residents doffed shirts at local beaches, relaxed at parks and took to the bicycle trails for family excursions.

Orange County was also spared the strong Santa Ana winds that buffeted Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties Monday, being treated instead to gentle, balmy breezes that gave residents that much more incentive to drop weekend chores and head outside.

“I said, ‘Forget the garage,’ ” said Thomas Almeida, 39, of Irvine, who was visiting the Balboa Pier at Newport Beach Monday afternoon with his girlfriend.

He had promised himself that he would clear his garage of months of accumulation this weekend, but, Almeida said, after he saw the flower beds outside his kitchen window being bathed by the morning sunlight, he decided on a trip to the ocean instead.

“I think this is more like it,” he said.

Schoolchildren who had the day off from classes also welcomed the holiday with gusto.

“I’d be in PE (physical education) right now,” mused Jason Buseman, a 15-year-old Riverside County high school freshman who spent the day at Newport Beach. “This is much more fun.”

The offshore breezes and a high-pressure system hovering over the Pacific Ocean kept temperatures throughout the county in the mid-70s, said Steve Burback, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., a Kansas firm that provides forecasts for The Times.

The clear skies and moderate temperatures were expected to last until next weekend at least, forecasters said. The northeasterly winds that pummeled other parts of Southern California never materialized in Orange County, Burback said.