L.A. Hits 100--a Record for June 30

Temperature records were set in both Los Angeles and San Diego on Sunday.

Sometime between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. the temperature rose to 100 degrees at Los Angeles Civic Center, topping the previous June 30 record of 98 degrees set in 1884. And the afternoon high of 96 at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field was a full 12 degrees above the old record for the date, which was 84 degrees, set in 1960.

Forecasters said it is going to be almost as hot today. The record high for Los Angeles for July 1 is 99 degrees, and the National Weather Service said it also could fall.

Other parts of Southern California were even hotter Sunday: The temperature rose to 115 degrees in Palm Springs and Blythe, Borrego and Thermal both had 112, it was 111 in El Centro, 109 in Needles and Death Valley, 108 in San Juan Capistrano and 106 in Burbank and Monrovia.

The meteorologists explained that a strong upper-level high-pressure area centered over Arizona is compressing California’s air supply and causing it to become superheated.

The weather service said that there is little hope of relief before Tuesday, but pointed out that an increasing onshore flow of marine air during the evenings might bring some cooling--and perhaps a little fog--by Tuesday night.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District called first-stage smog alerts Sunday in the east, west and south portions of the San Gabriel Valley in the Pomona-Walnut Valley, in Saddleback Valley and in central Orange County, and predicted alerts today in the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys and in the Riverside-San Bernardino area.