While Temperatures Wax, the Beach Crowds Wane : Weather: The mercury hit 97 in Santa Ana, barely missing the 1954 record. Meteorologists forecast a respite for the weekend.

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Huntington State Beach threw a pretty good summer’s day Tuesday: 87 degrees on the sand, a murmur of a breeze out of the west, no white caps and no crowd.

“It definitely was not a hard-core summer day” crowd-wise, lifeguard Carlos Fernandez said. “It was pretty minimal.”

Up and down the coast, beaches reported small crowds, even though Orange County temperatures soared to the mid-90s throughout much of the inland on Tuesday for the second straight day. In Santa Ana, it was 97 degrees, one degree shy of the all-time high set in 1954, according to WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times. Monday’s high in Santa Ana, 94 degrees, also missed beating that day’s record high by one degree.

Meteorologists anticipate a cooling trend starting today and lasting through the end of the week.

“We’re expecting the marine layer to start rebuilding and cooling things off a little bit [today] and really more on Thursday,” said Curtis Brack, a WeatherData meteorologist.

By Friday, to kick off the Labor Day weekend, highs in Orange County are expected to be in the mid-80s inland and upper 60s by the beaches, Brack said. But by the weekend, temperatures in the inland areas could return to the lower 90s.

“A little warm-up for Saturday and Sunday,” Brack said, “but nothing like you’ve had the last couple days.”

Meanwhile, lifeguards are bracing for a big Labor Day crowd.

“The weather’s been nice, so people are going to be making their one big blast to the beach,” said lifeguard Dan Lineback at San Onofre State Beach.

Tuesday, most people just stayed inside.

“I wish I could say, yes, they were lined up out the door, but it’s only been a fair day,” said server Ray Hickman at Frosty’s Frozen Yogurt in Anaheim. “We have found that when it’s hot, people don’t like to leave their air-conditioned offices.”

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Hot Dog Days

Although Tuesday’s heat did not set a record in Santa Ana, it was 13 degrees hotter than normal. High temperatures from around the county:

Anaheim: 99

Santa Ana: 97

Newport Beach: 76

Lake Forest: 96

Laguna Beach: 85

Dana Point: 81

San Juan Capistrano: 94

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Santa Ana Comparison

Record high (1954): 98

Normal high: 84

Source: WeatherData