Sun, surf and a touch of schadenfreude drew crowds of holiday revelers to Los Angeles area beaches for Christmas, with temperatures in the 80s across Southern California as bitter cold and brutal storms battered the most of the country.

“This is the most perfect weather,” said Jayanthi Krishna, 47, of Boston, who spent Sunday morning strolling along the Santa Monica Pier with her husband and two teenage children. “At home it is 17 degrees, there is a blizzard. We take photos [intending to share them] and we thought: ‘Will it be like we scrub it?’ ”

In fact, the weather is superlatively bad almost everywhere outside of California. Ice storms took over Seattle. Parts of Michigan were buried under more than 3 feet of snow. The “bomb cyclone” threatening much of the continental US this weekend has already stranded thousands of travelers and left tens of thousands more without power. As of Sunday, at least a dozen people have died in Buffalo, New York.

“This is really a very severe weather alert here, and it goes from Oklahoma to Wyoming, and from Wyoming to Maine, and it has real consequences,” President Biden said in a speech Thursday morning.

Amid the dismal prognosis, some saw LA as a haven.

“We didn’t have any plans for Christmas, so we went on a last-minute road trip,” said Wendy Lopez, 22, of New Mexico as she rolled up her long sleeves to her elbows and waded into the waves. “In Albuquerque it’s like 40 degrees right now.”

For others, the sun was a surprise.

“I’m wearing my jeans right now,” laughed Serafín Magaña, 17, of Santa Rosa, his hair still wet from swimming in his clothes as his cousins ​​buried him in the sand.

Even some locals were taken by surprise.

“I was hoping it would be cold,” said Hila Almony, 37, of Sherman Oaks, who brought her children to the pier for the seventh day of Hanukkah. “We saw the sunlight, the beautiful weather, and we said, ‘Why not?’”

By noon, the pier was packed, the sand below was packed with impromptu picnics, and the shoreline was dotted with kids splashing around in their underwear.

On the boardwalk, thrill seekers ran for the roller coaster. Lines meandered for the iconic Ferris wheel. The Ladino Hanukkah classic “Eight Kandelikas” blared from the speakers as the Ahmed sisters from Houston searched in vain for a clear spot to pose in their matching hijabs.

For 25-year-old Zarin Bell, the boisterous crowds were a distraction from the toddler she had left behind at her home in Enid, Oklahoma, when she moved to Los Angeles to sober up.

“My baby’s mom wouldn’t let me see my son open his presents,” she said as she waited outside the Pacific Park amusement district. On the other hand, “it’s cold as hell back there.”

Others came to the beach to mark a new chapter in their lives.

“It’s our first Christmas without our son,” said James Scruggs, 52, of Indio, whose teenage son was in Ohio visiting relatives. “We have to get used to it, because after my son graduates, we will be empty nesters.”

But many, perhaps most, were just looking for a place to spend a vacation that was not theirs.

“We were looking for places that were open,” said Dan Zaksas, 45, of Philadelphia, who is Jewish.

In fact, hijabs far outnumbered Santa hats among visitors. Similarly, tzitzits and sarees were more common than Fair Isle sweaters and red and green outfits.

“He’s planning on looking for a girl from California now,” Sukhjinder Singh from Orange County joked to Hardy Singh from England as they ate together outside Beach Burger.

For the Singhs and many others, the iconic waterfront would have been on the itinerary even if it were raining, as forecasters expect from Tuesday and into the New Year.

For some locals, the beach has become something of a non-Christmas tradition. They would have come even if it wasn’t nice, just to do something on a day when almost everything is closed.

“I usually go to Manhattan Beach every Christmas, but we decided to come here [to Santa Monica] because they’re visiting,” said Almondo Greer, 45, whose Jewish daughters Jazz, 19, and Nyli, 17, were in town from Bakersfield.

“We’re going to go to the movies later,” added Jazz, another time-honoured tradition. “Let’s go see ‘Avatar.'”

Maybe later, they would go for Chinese food.