Southern California heat wave continues, but temperatures are coming down
After breaking several high temperature records Saturday, Southern California should cool down just a bit Sunday.
Temperatures in Los Angeles should begin cooling by as much as 5 to 10 degrees in some areas, with cooling continuing over the next few days.
Heat warnings remain in effect in valley and other inland areas on Sunday. Officials forecast highs in the 70s and 80s in coastal areas and in the 90s inland.
Downtown Los Angeles hit a record high of 98 degrees Saturday, beating the 131-year-old record of 95 degrees set in 1886, according to the National Weather Service.
Record high temperatures were also recorded in Long Beach, with 96 degrees, and Burbank with 105, while Palmdale tied its record of 110. Woodland Hills also reported a temperature of 110.
The San Fernando Valley was especially hard hit by triple-digit temperatures. By 3 p.m., the mercury registered 107 degrees at Lake Balboa, near Encino.
The heat, humidity and beating sun gave park visitors plenty to complain about.
“Man, it’s brutal out here,” said a shirtless man carrying a cooler back to his truck.
“Ay, que caliente está,” said a mother wiping sweat from her brow as she left a bathroom with her children in tow. “It’s so hot.”
People sat on blankets or chairs under the shade of trees or canopies. Rental paddle boats floated in the dock, unused. Only ducks and geese swam around, but even they mostly cooled off then went in search of shade.
Barbecues and children’s parties were scattered around the lake, with spreads of food laid out on picnic tables. Blown-up bounce houses, their motors running, had no children inside.
Children splashed around wearing T-shirts and shorts in a narrow channel of water, an offshoot of the lake. A few entrepreneurs took advantage of the day to sell cold drinks and ice cream.
Dale Barrientos and his fiancée, Silva Mesrobian, sold cold drinks and chips out of foam coolers under a shady tree near the paddleboat dock.
Barrientos said they’ve been coming to the lake to make extra money every weekend for about a month. He said business is normally decent, with boat riders and people walking the paved path, but Friday and Saturday were especially slow.
“This is severe weather for people, kids and animals,” he said.
On Friday, Barrientos said they sold just enough to cover the cost of the ice they bought. Saturday wasn’t looking much better.
“Today at least there’s parties,” he said. “It actually looks like there’s human life.”
After half an hour, they finally got a customer: the lifeguard.
andrea.castillo@latimes.com | @andreamcastillo
christopher.goffard@latimes.com | @LATChrisGoffard
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