Showers Sprinkle Southland but Heat Hangs In There

Moist and unstable air from northern Mexico sent temperatures soaring in Orange County, set new records in Los Angeles and San Diego and spawned thundershowers from the San Bernardino Mountains to Arizona.

By noon, the mercury climbed to 99 in Santa Ana and the hot, sticky weather shows no sign of letting up for the next few days, according to the National Weather Service.

Heavy rain was reported in the Big Bear area of San Bernardino County, where an inch fell in three hours, briefly flooding streets and roadways but doing no serious damage, according to the Sheriff’s and Fire departments.

Rain and Wind Reported

Heavy rains accompanied by hail and winds gusting to 40 m.p.h. were reported in the Morongo and Yucca valleys and south of Prescott, Ariz., although no actual rainfall amounts were recorded.

And lighter showers and sprinkles were reported at scattered points in Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties.

The muggy weather blanketing Orange County set new records elsewhere; the high temperature at Los Angeles Civic Center Tuesday was 100 degrees, which shattered the old July 9 record of 96, set back in 1886.

And at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field, the mercury toppled the old (1968) record of 86 degrees at 10 a.m. and kept right on going until it finally topped out at 95 shortly before noon.

The night had been a hot one, too.

National Weather Service statisticians said the overnight low of 71 degrees in Los Angeles was two degrees above the previous record high minimum for July 9, which was set in 1959.

And it may have seemed even hotter because the air was heavy with moisture. Relative humidity reached 76% in the Southland during the night, dropping to only 24% during the afternoon.

The weather service blamed it all on a rather weak subtropical storm front that moved through the upper atmosphere.

Continued High Temperatures

Meteorologists said a hot and moist upper-level high pressure area is expected to remain more or less stationary over Utah and Nevada during the next day or two, which should give parts of Southern California a bit of high cloudiness or haze, but not enough to make any marked difference in the temperature until at least the end of the week.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District called a first-stage smog alert at 4 p.m. in the west San Gabriel Valley, and predicted unhealthful air quality for today in all parts of the Los Angeles Basin, except inland Orange County, Big Bear Lake, the coastal area and low deserts.