Valley Temperatures Hit Triple Digits

Temperatures soared Saturday in the San Fernando Valley, with record heat recorded in Chatsworth, which hit 102 degrees, and Woodland Hills, where thermometers shot up to 103.

Forecasters attributed the toasty weather to a ridge of high pressure building over the Valley, compressing the air.

“When you get over to the Valley, there are no offshore breezes to cool things off,” said Curt Kaplan, a weather specialist with the National Weather Service.

That wasn’t the case on the coast, where sun worshipers on the Santa Monica Pier had to be content with a high of just 62 degrees, Kaplan said.

The wide disparity in temperatures across the Los Angeles region is due to the high-pressure system squashing the cooler marine layer to the ground, National Weather Service forecaster Dave Bruno said.

“The cold, dense ocean air is trapped near the earth’s surface and it cannot get into the valleys,” Bruno said. “The valleys get the benefit of the warm air above.”

The previous May 20 record was set in 1988, when Woodland Hills reached 101.