112-degree heat sets L.A. record

June 26, 1990: The West Coast suffered through the worst day of a bad heat wave, The Times reported:

“Temperature blasted to 112 degrees at the Los Angeles Civic Center on Tuesday -- the hottest day ever in the city -- as a blistering heat wave claimed the life of a 4-year-old, fouled the air with a severe siege of smog, triggered an outbreak of small fires, threatened crops and forced the schools to activate emergency weather measures.”

The high temperature “smashed a 107-year-old record for June 26 by 14 degrees to become the hottest day ever recorded in the city since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1877,” the newspaper said.

Los Angeles, The Times noted, did not have it as bad as Phoenix, where temperatures soared to a record 122 degrees.

“Shortly after the temperature peaked at 2:47 p.m., officials at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport ordered all airlines to cancel takeoffs,” The Times story said. “The heat had reduced lift to the point that planes had no margin of error trying to get airborne, explained airport spokesman Rick Martinez. It was the first time planes had been grounded because of heat in the airport’s history, he said.”