Degrees of Summer

Like so many autumn leaves, temperature records fell across a sweltering Southern California on Sunday, with some of the old highs laid low as early as noon.

And two days after Halloween, Angelenos were leaving jack-o’-lanterns to wither on the porch while they headed for the beaches and mountains, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather as well as the unusually clear skies.

“It looks like a summer crowd,” county lifeguard Capt. Russell Walker said of the scene at Santa Monica beaches.

Sailboats took advantage of moderate breezes and took to the seas--which were also warmer than normal, at 68 degrees--while protesters rallying outside the Beverly Hills Hotel against Chinese President Jiang Zemin quaffed bottled water and iced coffee.

No wonder.

By noon, the temperature at Civic Center downtown had reached 95 degrees, beating the record of 94, set in 1976. And a few hours later, it peaked at 99.

*

In Burbank, it was 102 by about lunchtime, breaking that city’s record of 94, also set in 1976. Van Nuys hit 100 at about the same hour, beating the record of 94, set 48 years ago.

Before the day was out, the temperature in Pasadena reached 97, edging past the record of 96 degrees reached in 1949. Chatsworth hit 96, up two degrees from the record set in 1977. Long Beach recorded 98, breaking the previous Nov. 2 high of 97, set in 1976.

In Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, Santa Ynez and the Oxnard airport tied for the hottest spots in the nation at 104, said Stuart Seto of the National Weather Service.

After all the talk of El Nino, that phenomenon characterized by the warming of the Pacific Ocean could not be held responsible for the toasty weekend, said meteorologist John Sherwin of WeatherData, Inc., which supplies weather information to The Times.

Rather, temperatures were the result of a fairly typical system that saw high pressure over much of the West, and blow-dryer winds--dry and hot--coming in from the northeast that thwarted the shoreward advance of cooler air from the Pacific.

“Whammo,” said Sherwin, “you have a heat wave.”

Several temperature records were broken Saturday, as well. And while the mercury is expected to fall slightly today and Tuesday, a few more records may tumble, forecasters said.

As Sherwin put it: “Hot for sure.”