Tuesday plans were gone with the wind

The National Weather Service is calling for sunny skies with highs in the 60s today and Thursday, but the mild weather comes after a day of wacky weather full of high winds, sunny skies and short spurts of rain in Newport-Mesa.

High winds cut practice short Tuesday morning for several UC Irvine crew team members when strong gusts caused their boats to capsize, according to Newport Beach Harbor Patrol officials.

Between 9:15 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, three sculls reportedly capsized in Newport Harbor, Sgt. Dave Ginther said.

Officers aboard Harbor Patrol fire boats plucked 15 members of the women’s crew team from chilly waters after two of their sculls capsized — one below the Castaways community near the Pacific Coast Highway Bridge and the other in the area of Harbor Island. Nine UC Irvine men were able to swim to the docks near Collins Isle.

The men and women were taken back to the UC Irvine crew base in the Back Bay. There were no injuries, but the boaters did need to be warmed up to avoid hypothermia.

Not very many other people braved the 59-degree water and 8- to 10-foot waves that hit Newport Tuesday, according to lifeguards.

Newport Beach Lifeguard Officer Skeeter Leeper reported the strongest gust at 46 mph, with sustained gusts in the mid-30s. One beachgoer frantically called lifeguards Tuesday after losing sight of a surfer, but the surfer had just drifted about 20 blocks and was fine, Leeper said.

The only major damage reported in Costa Mesa was a downed tree in the 1500 block of Caraway Drive, according to Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford.

Elizabeth Whitmore of Hood River, Ore. — next to what she called a “wind surfing capital,” — was not surprised by the high winds. She’s come to expect it while on vacation.

“It’s windy here because we’re here,” Whitmore joked while eating an ice cream at Fashion Island Tuesday afternoon. It’s just about always windy where Whitmore lives, she said.

She and two children — Grace, 7, and Tanner, 4 — didn’t much mind the gusts as they hung out at the outdoor shopping center with Whitmore’s parents, Newport Coast residents Al and Sally Phillips.

“We’re happy just to sit here in the sunshine,” Sally Phillips said.

Rain showered some areas of Newport-Mesa briefly Tuesday, while other areas stayed sunny but windy.