Near-record crowds packed La Jolla Shores and Windansea on Monday, Sept. 7, as record heat and Tropical Storm Marie swells capped a historic beach summer.

Water temperatures at La Jolla Shores hit 79 degrees Fahrenheit in the days before Labor Day and hovered around 72 degrees on Monday, FOX 5 San Diego reported. Lifeguards told the station that 19 million visitors came to San Diego's beaches and bays over the summer, with more than 5,000 water rescues.

"Perfect conditions out there today at Windansea. The water is warm, the waves are big, it's perfect," Jack Valentine, a 76-year-old La Jolla resident, told FOX 5 on Monday. "I'm 76 years old, and this is my fountain of youth."

The rescue numbers track with figures San Diego Fire-Rescue public information officer Candace Hadley shared in late August. Hadley told FOX 5 on Aug. 25 that lifeguards had already performed about 5,480 rescues since June 1, a pace she said nearly matched the 7,000 to 8,000 rescues the department typically logs in a full year.

Marie, which briefly strengthened to a hurricane on Thursday, Sept. 3, before weakening, sat about 700 miles southwest of San Diego on Labor Day, according to NBC San Diego. The storm pushed large swells and high humidity into the region. The National Weather Service kept a high surf advisory in effect through Tuesday, Sept. 8, warning of six- to 10-foot breaking waves on south- and southwest-facing beaches.

As we reported Sept. 3, the NWS also issued a coastal flood advisory for La Jolla, citing high astronomical tides of 6.2 to 6.8 feet that could cause tidal overflow during evening high tides.

The warm water was no fluke. On Aug. 28, the sea-bottom temperature at Scripps Pier in La Jolla tied for the hottest ever recorded on that date at 76.6 degrees, nearly 10 degrees above average, according to Scripps Institution of Oceanography data reported by NBC San Diego.

San Diego Fire-Rescue Lt. John Maher told the La Jolla Shores Association at its Aug. 19 meeting that lifeguards had been fully staffed throughout the summer to handle the crowds, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The Shores drew 356,000 visitors between Bird Rock and Black's Beach over Fourth of July weekend alone, according to a separate Union-Tribune report. The high surf advisory expires Tuesday night. La Jolla Shores' seven seasonal fire rings are scheduled for removal now that Labor Day has passed.