Countywide : Heat Wave Something of Washout

Orange County’s mini-heat wave crested Thursday with temperatures reaching a high of only 87 degrees, as light breezes and a break in a high pressure dome over the Los Angeles Basin helped temper what had promised to be an even hotter day.

Still, the sunny skies and high temperatures made for a crowd at Wild Rivers Waterpark in Irvine. “We’re nice and busy, the turnout is great for a weekday,” Debra Hutton, park director of marketing, said Thursday afternoon. “Usually, most of the people that are coming here are in the park by 1 p.m., but they’re still coming.”

Temperatures are expected to be even cooler today and through the weekend as the high pressure dome weakens, allowing for the usual June gloom of cloudy early mornings that give way to midmorning sunshine. Air quality should improve, with good to moderate readings expected.

“We expect the offshore winds to weaken, and we should see stronger onshore winds by Friday and increasing Saturday,” said James McCutcheon, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which forecasts weather for The Times.

Thursday’s high in the county was 87 degrees in Anaheim, with relative humidity at 48%. Newport Beach had a much cooler 72 degrees. The low in Anaheim was 67.

County firefighters got a scare Thursday when they battled a brush fire about 12:45 p.m. that destroyed five acres in San Juan Capistrano. The blaze was in the back of 27112 Highland Drive. No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported.

Some of the fire problem stems from the rainy winter. “It’s a mixed blessing when we have rain. It takes care of our drought, but it also causes a lot of vegetation to grow,” said Emmy Day, a county fire spokesperson. “And now that it’s dry, there’s more vegetation to burn.”

In Santa Ana, bus driver Judy Whittington said most of her passengers preferred waiting for the bus inside the Civic Center terminal where on Thursday they got “a little breeze” every once in a while.

Across the street, a noontime crowd was beginning to gather at the Boardwalk Cafe, where customers can enjoy ham on rye at a curbside table and watch the weather. So, how was the weather?

“Let me help you out there, babe,” waitress Lisa Leighton offered. “Hot! One word.”

Leighton, a seven-year veteran of table hopping at the sidewalk cafe, said the Civic Center clientele of lawyers, office workers and assorted bureaucrats prefer eating lighter meals when the heat is up.

In cooler San Clemente, Tom Stratford took his five dogs, all Labrador retrievers, for a plunge in the ocean, risking a citation for having pets on the beach.

“They need a break from the heat, too,” said the 36-year-old Mission Viejo resident, throwing a Frisbee in the water that was instantly chased by the soaking wet dogs. “When it’s this hot, the beach is the place to go.”

But not for confirmed shoppers who headed for area malls to browse in air-conditioned comfort.

Dumping an armful of shopping bags on a chair in the Mission Viejo Mall, Leanne Gregory, 29, of Lake Forest ordered a lemonade and relaxed from a full day of shopping.

“We don’t have air conditioning at my house,” she said. “I knew it was going to be real hot like this, so I made plans to spend the day at the mall. It’s expensive, but I’m staying nice and cool and getting my shopping done at the same time.”