They Say It Was Cooler but What Do They Know?

Southern Californians continued to swelter in triple-digit temperatures in many places Sunday, but for the first time in three days the heat did not reach record levels, and meteorologists said there may be some relief--though not much--by midweek.

On Sunday, temperatures again reached 100 or more in the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire, but only 95 at the Civic Center, two degrees below the record for the date set in 1885.

On Saturday, the mercury hit 102 and on Friday 104 at the Downtown measuring point, breaking records set in the last century.

The dip provided little consolation to the millions of residents who again flocked to area beaches, where the crowds and strong tides produced twice the usual number of rescues, lifeguards reported Sunday.

“It’s been crazy,” said Steve Propster, a lifeguard at Hermosa Beach. “This heat wave stuff is not too cool.”

More than 80 rescues were made in his area alone, including one after a surfer hurt his spine and another when a boat caught fire.

Resources were stretched to the limit, said Capt. Russ Walker of the Los Angeles County central lifeguard station in Santa Monica.

“Our day-watch rescue boats were busy,” Walker said. “They have been active with boat distress calls and boat fires.”

But authorities reported no serious injuries on the beaches.

A Hesperia family was hospitalized after they were struck by lightning under a tree during a storm at Hesperia Lake.

Firefighter Daren Brown said the lightning struck Leona Ellis, who was holding her 2 1/2-year-old daughter. “It ran through her, the baby and all the people who were around there,” Brown said.

Ellis, the child and the baby’s 55-year-old grandmother were in stable condition at San Bernardino County Medical Center on Sunday. Another daughter, two sons and another boy complained of a tingling feeling or loss of sensation and were hospitalized.

Safety officials advise against seeking shelter under trees during thunderstorms.

Away from the beaches, hundreds of thousands kept their cool with air conditioning, again taxing power utilities.

Overuse caused minor power failures for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in Silver Lake, West Los Angeles, Hollywood and parts of the San Fernando Valley, while Southern California Edison reported brief outages in Sylmar and Newbury Park.

Power was back in all areas by midafternoon, though the utilities urged customers to be prudent with air conditioning where possible.

On Saturday, Southern California Edison reported that its customers used more power than on any day since Aug. 17, 1992.

About 5,700 Los Angeles Central Men’s Jail inmates and 300 sheriff’s deputies sweltered in an unairconditioned building after a faulty air-conditioning system finally quit Sunday, Deputy Brian Jones said. It began malfunctioning Wednesday, he said.

High temperatures had made the jailhouse hot and sticky as the mercury inside the building rose to 86 degrees, Jones said. Extra fans were brought into the four-story building, and inmates were given extra showers and liquids. However, none of the inmates required treatment for heat-related medical problems.

The system was repaired and running again Sunday evening.

Meteorologist Curtis Brack of WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times, said the heat wave was caused by a very strong high pressure area over California that was blocking cooler marine air from coming inland. But as the week progresses, “skies should be clearing out somewhat,” he said, allowing temperatures to drop further.

Nevertheless, meteorologists were not ruling out a return to record highs.

“Unfortunately, I can’t promise much relief yet,” said Bruce Entwistle of the National Weather Service, predicting that temperatures “will bounce up and down a few degrees each day.”

In addition, the weather may become more humid, he said.

On Sunday, Los Angeles County lifeguards said that more than 1 million people sought relief at the beach. And others found remedies closer to home.

Angela Lee, a West Los Angeles homemaker, said she dug out an old parasol for the first time since she moved to Los Angeles two decades ago and used it walking to church.

Afterward, she stayed home with her shades drawn and was “trying not to move my body.”

In San Bernardino County, more than 700 firefighters continued to fight two brush fires touched off by lightning Saturday. By midafternoon Sunday, the 1,800-acre fires north of Lake Arrowhead were reported 50% under control, with no injuries.

“Right now we are looking at the real hot weather and more thunderstorms coming,” said Tom Sensintaff, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, which was coordinating firefighting efforts.

The hottest spots in Southern California on Sunday included Monrovia and Montebello, with highs of 103 degrees, Pasadena at 102 and San Bernardino, where the temperature reached 100 at the 3 p.m. measuring time.

In Orange County, a dangerous combination of rip currents and large surf--up to 10 to 12 feet at some beaches--kept lifeguards extremely busy during another day of large crowds.

“The water has been pulling people into the rips and then out to sea,” said Huntington State Beach Lifeguard Supervisor William Pfeiffer.

Lifeguards up and down the county’s 42-mile coast reported similar conditions--and double the normal number of surf rescues. It was at Newport Beach that lifeguards reported the surf as high as 12 feet, though no major injuries were reported.

In Seal Beach, near the Los Angeles County border, lifeguards took the unusual precaution of closing off 100 yards of beach to swimmers immediately north of the city pier.

“We had a very inexperienced swimming crowd today, and then large surf and heavy rip currents,” said Andrew Seymour, Seal Beach director of parks, beaches, and recreation. “(The beach closure) was an unusual move, but it’s a safety precaution. Our rescue boat was working hard today.”

In Little Tokyo, visitors and merchants at the Nisei Week Japanese Festival cursed the double blow that the sweltering weather delivered Sunday: It felt miserable, and it was keeping business away.

Some, however, found a bright note in the communal suffering.

“Business is good--thanks to the hot weather,” said a beaming Jong Ho Park, who works at Bourbon Street Liquor in Koreatown. “Beers, soft drinks and ice are much in demand today.”

Still, Park noted that he has had to turn up the air conditioning to accommodate his customers--so he may not be that much ahead after his electric bill arrives.

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this story.