Mercury Shows It’s Finally August

It was hot in Southern California on Tuesday, and in case you’d forgotten, that’s what it usually is around here at this time of year.

The high temperature at the Los Angeles Civic Center, recorded at 11:46 a.m., was 85 degrees, normal for the date. But after a cool July, 85 seemed uncomfortably warm.

And it was even hotter Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley--106 in Woodland Hills and 105 in Chatsworth, tying a record for the date set in 1975.

In Orange County, where Tuesday’s thermometer readings peaked in the mid-90s, inland residents headed for the beaches. About 70,000 turned out in Newport Beach, about a third more than usual for a weekday in August.

Temperatures pushed into the mid-90s in La Habra, Yorba Linda and Anaheim, said Tom Carlson, a forecaster for Weather Central, a weather tracking service. Along the coast, the highs were in the mid-70s, but the heat was still a topic of conversation.

“I feel like I want to quit my job, it is so hot,” said Eduardo Rosales, 31, at Classic Hand Carwash in Costa Mesa. “I drink gallons of water. Gallons and gallons.”

High temeratures statewide pushed Tuesday’s power use to 41,000 megawatts, 3,000 below the state’s supply.

There have been no rolling blackouts in California since May, but officials warn that demand usually surges in late August and early September, when temperatures often are high.

The weather service said it should remain normally warm through Friday, possibly cooling over the weekend.

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Times staff writers Holly Wolcott in Ventura and Matthew Ebnet in Orange County contributed to this story.