Heat Sets Records in 3 O.C. Cities; Cooler Weather Is Expected Today

Triple-digit temperatures broke records for a second straight day Tuesday, but the thermometer was expected to drop back to normal today.

Three Orange County cities had record-setting temperatures Tuesday: Santa Ana and Yorba Linda, which both hit 100, and Laguna Beach, where the temperature hit 87.

“We had some of the guests coming up and asking me the temperature today,” said Joe Symes, a front desk clerk at the Hotel Laguna. “But what’s funny is that a lot of guests here just assume that we get this weather 365 days out of the year.”

Los Angeles roasted at 102 degrees, breaking the record for the date of 94 set in 1881.

Other records were broken Tuesday in cities including Woodland Hills, which reached 103, Burbank, 100, and Simi Valley, 101.

Readings in Long Beach and Pasadena reached 99, also setting records.

“The heat is intense,” said Bruce Rockwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “But it’s been worse,” and heat spells are “actually quite common this time of year,” he said.

Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Paso Robles, Ojai and Cuyama also posted record highs. San Francisco hit 86 to tie a 1921 record.

The high-pressure system that has baked much of Southern California this week is expected to be replaced today with ocean breezes, said Stuart Seto, a National Weather Service specialist.

That means temperatures will drop 10 to 20 degrees in some communities.

“The weather will be back to normal,” Seto said. “It will feel more like spring.”

But by the weekend, temperatures will begin to rise again.

“Like L.A. traffic,” Seto said, “the weather system keeps moving.”