When It’s Hot It’s Hot, Summer or Not

After of a summer of cloudy skies, foggy beach scenes and nonexistent tan lines, Mother Nature made a searing swing through Southern California on Tuesday, leaving behind a trail of record-breaking temperatures and sweaty, grumpy human beings.

Throughout Southern California, temperatures surged past the century mark, reaching 101 in Burbank, 102 in Fillmore in Ventura County, and a scorching 108 in El Cajon in San Diego County. Los Angeles reached 100 degrees, breaking the record for the date of 99, set in 1906.

The temperature in Santa Ana reached 97, one degree short of the record for Oct. 1, and in El Toro it soared to 98.

For most Southern Californians, the late-breaking heat wave quickly became a test of stamina and resourcefulness.

When ice cream deliveryman Jim Wilson began his run early Tuesday morning in a chilly San Diego, he was bundled up in a ski mask and padded vest. But by the time he reached Orange County, the temperature outside was 98.

“When I am in the cab, I’m fine because it’s air-conditioned,” Wilson said during a stop in El Toro. “But when I am out here, I am feeling it.”

At an Orange County shopping center, sales clerk Valerie Vona wore denim shorts and a T-shirt while waiting on customers under a big tent at a parking lot clearance sale. The pavement’s blacktop created a scorching heat that was occasionally remedied by water and soft drinks stored in a small refrigerator near the cash register.

“It’s exhausting,” Vona said, “and we have one more day of this.”

Caretakers at the exotic-animal training compound at Ventura County’s Moorpark College were sent scurrying for their water bottles and hoses to make sure the 275 animals housed at the compound had enough water.

Jim Peddie, a college instructor and veterinarian, said pens housing large cats were sprayed with cool water and most of the exotic birds spent the day in air-conditioned quarters.

Even Bobby the water buffalo, who normally detests being sprayed with water, wanted relief.

“If we spray him, he seems to resent it. It’s better to hose down the floor on his cage,” Peddie said. “It’s hot enough that any animal that’s outside is going to be bothered.”

The heat resulted from a ridge of high pressure that parked itself over Southern California late Monday, making it one of the hottest spots in the country, according to Marty McKewon of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

“If this happened Aug. 1, it would not be that big of a deal,” McKewon said. “But since it happened Oct. 1, and it was cool all summer, it becomes a big deal.”

The same conditions are expected to remain in place today, and hotter-than-normal temperatures are expected through the weekend.

“If you’re looking for summerlike weather, it’s definitely in California,” said McKewon, noting that it has been rainy in the Southeast and overcast in the Northeast.

Despite a fuzzy brown haze that hung over much of the Los Angeles Basin, air quality officials said the heat “literally blew the lid off” the inversion layer that normally makes such days as smoggy as they are sticky.

As long as the air above the inversion layer is warmer than the air below, the smog cannot rise, said Tom Eichhorn, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. But when it gets as hot as it was Tuesday, the air below breaks through and toxins dissipate into the atmosphere.

Air quality was poor in Orange County on Tuesday, but not bad enough to trigger an alert. The air in Anaheim reached a level of 150 on the Pollutant Standard Index, causing the region’s air-quality agency to declare a health advisory for central Orange County, urging people to curtail outdoor physical activity. A full-scale alert goes into effect when the PSI reaches 200.

While most Southern Californians spent the day complaining about the weather, thousands took their troubles to the beach, where temperatures Tuesday ranged from the mid-70s to low 80s.

San Clemente lifeguard supervisor Eric Burke said the beaches seem to be more crowded since the start of fall than they were in the summer.

“It was pretty much a perfect beach day,” Burke said, “almost like a normal summer day.”

Robert Madrigal of Monterey Park said he and a friend decided to forgo planned repairs on his car and escape to Sunset Beach.

“We figured we would get some place where it was a little cooler,” he said.

Dennis Strong and his wife, Mary, also spent part of the day in Sunset Beach, leaving their home in Hesperia in search of cooler temperatures.

“It’s been a crazy summer,” said Dennis. “It’s over, and now it gets hot. I just wonder how long that will last.”

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Jesse Katz, Edmund Newton, Psyche Pascual, Maria Newman and George Frank.

Sizzling in October

Orange County residents baked in heat reaching 98 degrees Tuesday. The same conditions are expected to continue today, bringing warm temperatures through the weekend. Anaheim: 93 Santa Ana: 97 Irvine: 97 Newport Beach: 75 El Toro: 98 San Juan Capistrano: 93 Source: WeatherData