Beaches ready for boost in crowds

With inland temperatures poised to be in the 90s and 100s this weekend, Newport-Mesa officials expect a large influx of sea breeze-seeking tourists eager to escape the record-breaking heat.

Local lifeguards have increased their on-duty staff for the weekend, and noted they expected anywhere from 65,000 to 125,000 visitors on the Newport shore — over twice the typical weekend crowd.

“Normally, we get anywhere from 25 [thousand] to 55,000 folks,” Lifeguard Captain Mitch White said. “When it gets really hot inland, people come here to cool off because it’s usually a good 10- to 15-degree difference.”

But, it’s not all bad news: Local businesses, who often thrive on such migrations, say the projected numbers could mean big days at the bank.

“If we have a sunny weekend day, we’ll make as much here in a weekend as we would the whole week,” Easy Ride Tricycles owner Dale Head said. “This is normally a slower time of year, but this is going to be just like a summer day for us; we’ll do fantastic business.”

The National Weather Service reports that Newport-Mesa temperatures are expected to reach cooler weekend highs in the 80s or 90s.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at [email protected].