Southland Bakes 2nd Day: Mercury 102 in Santa Ana : O.C. and L.A. Records, Shattered

A record-smashing heat wave blistered Southern California for the second straight day today, with the mercury soaring to a record 102 by 1 p.m in Santa Ana.

Forecasters said little relief is expected before Sunday. The 1 p.m. reading in El Toro was 101 and the Los Angeles Civic Center had hit 99 by that hour, well on the way to a predicted high of 104 in Los Angeles.

The forecasters said Los Angeles--or some other community in the area--might well be the hottest spot in the nation today. Temperatures are expected to peak in the high 90s through Saturday, before dipping into the high 70s Sunday.

In Orange County, the previous record high for this date was 84, set in 1904. In Los Angeles, the previous record was 90, set in 1971.

The glaring sun baked the inland areas of the county and even caused unusually hot temperatures in normally cool beach communities. The morning temperature jumped to 90 degrees at Huntington Beach shortly after 10 this morning and was still climbing, lifeguards reported.

In Seal Beach, which usually stays cool because of ocean breezes, the noon temperature climbed to 94 degrees today. Hordes of people headed to the ocean waters there to cool off, lifeguards reported.

In Huntington Beach, Lifeguard Lt. Steve Davidson said that lifeguards are “operating at a skeleton staff, and so we’re warning people to be very careful, especially since the water is colder this time of year and it makes people tire easier.”

Orange County Fire Department officials said today they are worried about tinder-dry conditions in the canyons.

“We have a lot of concern about this weather,” said Orange County Fire Capt. Hank Raymond. “Red flags are not out yet, because fortunately there haven’t been strong winds so far with this hot weather. We’ve been pretty fortunated so far. But it’s very dry, and anything will burn.” In Santa Ana, some high schools planned to shift some classes on sun-baked sides of school buildings to rooms in shaded, cooler areas.

Today’s predicted highs included 104 in Montebello and Monterey Park; 103 in Van Nuys, El Monte and San Gabriel; 102 in Inglewood, Culver City, Long Beach, Northridge, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and Pomona; 101 in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, and 100 in Westwood, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Azusa, Covina, Canoga Park and Woodland Hills.

That’s even hotter than it was Tuesday, when the thermometer peaked at 100 at the Los Angeles Civic Center, breaking the old record for the date, also set in 1971, by 7 degrees. Other top readings Tuesday included 101 in San Gabriel, Long Beach and Monrovia and 100 in Culver City, Montebello and Ontario.

Rick Dittman, a meteorologist for WeatherData, Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the hot, dry weather was caused by two areas of high pressure, one in the upper atmosphere over the Pacific Northwest, the other nearer the surface over the Great Basin.

Air flowing from these highs toward the relatively lower pressure off the Pacific Coast, he said, is being heated and dried out by compression as it cascades down coastal mountain slopes toward the sea.