Temperatures May Reach 100 as Heat Wave Continues

Los Angeles residents who only a week ago were saying goodby to summer by switching on furnace heaters have welcomed the start of fall by turning their air conditioners back on.

Temperatures reached the 90s for the second day Saturday as high pressure continued to build over California, pushing out the deep fog layer that covered the Los Angeles area much of last week.

Hundred-degree temperatures--accompanied by the season’s first Santa Ana winds--are likely to be felt today in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, weather forecasters said.

“It looks like a warm and dry situation until the middle of next week,” said meteorologist James McCutcheon of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. “It’s going to be a little warmer than normal.”

Wind gusts of up to 35 m.p.h. could occur in the foothill areas and valleys, McCutcheon said.

Light winds Saturday that pushed Mojave Desert heat into Los Angeles were enough to cause the county Fire Department to issue a red-flag watch for brush fires and to prompt a warning of “very unhealthful” air by air quality officials.

Charlotte Kramer, supervising county fire dispatcher, said firefighters will not know the extent of the brush fire danger until moisture readings are taken in vegetation today.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District warned that the pollution level will be “very unhealthful” in metropolitan Los Angeles and the San Gabriel-Pomona valleys today. The air will be at “unhealthful” in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys and in coastal areas.

Saturday’s warm weather--it was 83 at the Civic Center at noon--was accompanied by a pleasant breeze in some areas.

“It’s very refreshing,” said Beverly Stewart, a UCLA administrator who lives in Baldwin Hills.