CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

People with fair or light skin should be careful if they’re outdoors this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

At about noon, the Los Angeles area will reach an ultraviolet index level of 11, which is a “high” exposure level, said Craig Long, a research meteorologist with the weather service.

An ultraviolet index is a measure of how much skin-burning ultraviolet radiation is coming from the sun.

“If you can avoid being out in the middle part of the day, doing your activities in the morning or afternoon, you won’t be exposed to as much UV as you would in the central part of the day,” Long said.

The high UV level is due to a combination of the time of year, weather conditions and low pollution levels in the air Friday.

Since the skies will be clear, there are fewer pollution particles to scatter UV rays, Long said. “The sun is as high above us as it’s going to get during the summer,” he said. “It’s your dosage that really determines whether you get a sunburn.”

-- Nicole Santa Cruz