The Valley Bakes, and It’s Not Done Yet

Tom Kalomiris dreads days like Monday, when temperatures crept into triple digits across the San Fernando Valley.

As the manager of a Granada Hills ice cream shop, you would think Kalomiris would thrive on heat. But his Frosty Queen was virtually empty Monday afternoon. “People stay indoors. They stay in air-conditioning,” he explained.

It was the sort of day that makes the Valley want to secede from its own climate. A ridge of high pressure shut out even the mildest trickle of cooling sea breezes as the region continued to bake in a heat wave, with no relief anticipated until the end of the week.

The high of 102 in the West Valley, or even the 103 registered in Lancaster and Newhall, didn’t quite reach the record for the date--a scorching 107 in Canoga Park in 1957.

The high Monday at the Los Angeles Civic Center was 89, compared with the normal high for this time of year of 76. The only relief came along the coast, where a slight onshore breeze delivered fog over some beaches.

But the heat wave that contributed to a handful of large fires in the Inland Empire over the weekend was not accompanied by winds, enabling firefighters to get the upper hand on the blazes while being spared new ones.

In Canoga Park, the mercury was inching toward triple digits, but United Parcel Service deliveryman Rick Setina hardly broke into a sweat as he hoisted six boxes the size of 20-inch television sets onto a dolly. The parcels contained office supplies for Nevada Avenue Elementary School.

“You drink a gallon of water a day at least” in such weather, he said, pausing to wipe his forehead.

At Nevada Avenue Elementary, four bungalow-style classrooms are the only air-conditioned spaces, along with a teachers lounge that is cooled by a window unit that the staff bought. Principal Tom Stevens said the school’s electrical system can’t handle the extra load of air-conditioning. And so the library, the computer lab, the main office and the rest of the classrooms make do with floor fans.

On Monday, just after lunch, fifth-grade teacher Barry Watnick had the lights turned off in his classroom and a large fan standing sentry at the door. Even so, a thermometer on the wall showed the temperature to be 92 degrees “in the shade,” Watnick observed.

“People in prison would be crying ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ if they were subjected to these temperatures. And adults wouldn’t go to the supermarket or the shopping mall if they weren’t air-conditioned. And yet these same adults forget about the kids, who are forced to learn in these inhumane conditions a lot of the year,” Watnick said.

Watnick said that on days like Monday, he tries to cram as much academic work as he can into the morning, knowing that after lunch his pupils will be too wilted to listen to lessons.

“I’ve seen kids writing and the sweat is pouring on the page and smudging the work,” he said.

Instead of practicing long division, his pupils spent Monday afternoon watching a movie about Alaskan wildlife, some fanning themselves with folded notebook paper. Rachel Aiello, 11, longed wistfully for her days as a fourth-grader in one of the air-conditioned bungalows.

“We didn’t have to sit in the dark or wear the shortest shorts and stick to the seats,” she said.

At Chatsworth High School, the heat also wreaked havoc with the telephone system. The telephone lines “overheated,” making it impossible for the office staff to transfer calls, said secretary Lynne Kruger. “It does it all the time when it gets pretty hot,” she said.

Anticipating days of uncomfortable heat yet to come, some Valley schools have already sent out word they intend to dismiss students early today. No schools closed early Monday because officials are required to give parents 24 hours notice before altering the class schedule.

Forecasters predict the mercury will again reach the high 90s today. The heat is blamed on a “very strong” dome of high pressure from the Eastern Pacific into the Southern Rockies. “California is right in the middle of it,” said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather forecasts for The Times.

That’s fine with Tim Riordan, manager of California Ice & Propane in Woodland Hills. At least half of his business is doing well.

Orders are up “definitely for ice,” he said. “But not for propane.”

Leff is a Times staff writer and Riccardi is a correspondent. Times staff writer Tom Gorman contributed to this story.