http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/extremes/2010-09-27-california-heat_N.htmLos Angeles records hottest temperature ever
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The National Weather Service says downtown Los Angeles has recorded an all-time record high of 113 degrees as a heat wave bakes California.
Weather forecaster Stuart Seto says the record high was reached about 15 minutes after noon Monday. The old record was 112 degrees on June 26, 1990.
California has been in the grip of a heat wave since high pressure built over the West late last week.
It's been a scorching start for fall in California and it only looks to be getting hotter.
The weather service issued red-flag warnings for dangerous wildfire conditions in the mountains and valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
A high of 84 degrees was predicted in San Francisco and up to 105 degrees in the Sacramento Valley. Desert Valley could see a peak of 115 degrees.
"It's been a long time since we got this hot," said Stuart Seto, a weather service forecaster in Oxnard. "It's basically high pressure over the area and we've got some weak offshore flow from the mountains to the ocean. As the air from the mountains sinks, it compresses and gets warmer. Like a Santa Ana (condition), but the winds aren't as strong."
"It's like our unexpected summer," he added.
Temperatures were expected to drop a few degrees Tuesday in many areas but the valleys will continue have triple-digit temperatures, Seto said.
On Sunday, the mercury hit 105 degrees in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, and El Cajon in San Diego County hit 106 degrees.
The heat sent people to the beaches in droves, packing shores that were relatively empty during the gray and gloomy summer. Los Angeles County lifeguards estimated that about 350,000 hit the beach in the Santa Monica Bay area west of downtown Los Angeles.
Several small wildfires broke out Sunday but were quickly knocked down, including one that came close to homes in South Pasadena before firefighters stopped it.
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