The Word for the Weather: ‘Excessive’

Playgrounds emptied, pools overflowed and the hum of the noble air conditioner echoed over the land as another Southern California summer settled into high gear Monday with more record-breaking heat.

By midafternoon, the temperatures had easily topped 100 degrees in Ojai and the inland valleys of Los Angeles County, and the National Weather Service had issued a rare “excessive heat” advisory. Forecasters said people should stay out of the afternoon sun through Wednesday, especially if they are elderly.

The mercury showed 100 in Simi Valley, which was enough to tie a 28-year-old record. Temperatures also hit the century mark in Fillmore and Piru. Ojai was baking at 103.

The Weather Service warned that the level of ultraviolet radiation was so high that a fair-skinned person couldn’t expect to spend more than four minutes in the sun without getting burned. Summer school classes let out early in some parts of the region. And the Automobile Club of Southern California cautioned motorists to check their cars’ belts, batteries and coolant tanks.

It was the second consecutive day of triple-digit heat after a cooler-than-usual June and July.

And it was the second day in a row that records were broken in Chatsworth and Pasadena. Monday’s mark of 108 in Chatsworth broke the record for the date, set in 1969, by five degrees. The high of 103 in Pasadena beat the mark set in 1979 by four degrees.

Similar temperatures are expected today.

Meteorologists blamed a high-pressure system that has hovered over the West Coast since the weekend and is not expected to abate until week’s end.

Locally, Oxnard and Ventura were the places to be Monday, with relatively moderate temperatures of 79 and 75 degrees, respectively.

About 2,500 people had the beach on their minds and found themselves jockeying for position at San Buenaventura State Beach on Monday afternoon.

“It’s a pretty good crowd for a Monday,” said lifeguard Steve Ramirez.

Air quality hovered in the moderate range, said Kent Field of the county’s Air Pollution Quality District.

“Simi Valley may be just a bit above state standards, and the best air is near the coast,” Field said. “It will be poorer [today], maybe into the unhealthful range, as the amount of stagnant air in the area increases.”

But for East Los Angeles snow-cone vendor Jose Hernandez, the hot weather is good news.

“First June, then July, and now--finally--el calor,” he exulted, pushing his cart down Soto Street.

But most Southern Californians sided with Hernandez’s customer, Marta Bravo, 28.

“Ay, two days of this heat is already too much,” the sweltering woman moaned, biting into a frosty lemon ice.

How hot was it?

So hot that a bunch of teenagers waiting for a bus in Pasadena at noon got singed by the bus bench and were forced to wait, squatting, in the shade of a small tree.

So hot that the Shetland ponies at a petting zoo in Koreatown were being rubbed down with wet rags, even in the shade.

So hot that Conaway Ice Distributors in Ventura sold nearly 15 tons of ice, more than double its usual output, according to manager Dennis Phillips. And the Foster’s Freeze in Santa Paula saw a marked increase in both ice cream and soft drink sales.

“We’ve been so busy the last few days,” Phillips said. “We deliver to the lakes--Piru, Casitas--and everyone needs ice.”

Throughout the San Fernando Valley, campuses where school is in session canceled outdoor physical education classes and announced plans to have students double up in air-conditioned rooms in schools where not every classroom has a cooler yet.

Other readings on Monday included 104 in Newhall and Woodland Hills, 103 in Northridge and 102 in Van Nuys. The high at the Los Angeles Civic Center was 91, three degrees short of the record for the date, set in 1971.

The San Gabriel Valley was just as bad--it was 106 in Monrovia. And in Orange County, the county courthouse had a particularly stultifying Monday morning: Someone had turned off the air conditioning over the weekend, and had forgotten to turn it back on.

John Sherwin, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides weather information to The Times, said temperatures are expected to drop a bit by Thursday but will remain relatively high throughout the week. Clear and hot weather is forecast for the region, with highs from the upper 80s on the coast to 100 and above in the inland valleys.

The reason, he said, is a ridge of high pressure that has extended from the surface up into the upper atmosphere and has inhibited the sea breezes that usually cool the region.

“Plus,” Sherwin deadpanned, “it’s August.”

Though August marks the last lap of summer in many parts of the nation, it is traditionally the height of summer here. By August, the morning haze has usually burned away, and the days are hot from dawn until dusk.

So, although Southern Californians tend to forget it from one year to the next, hot spells are routine. Nonetheless, the temperatures were sufficient to prompt the Weather Service to issue an unusual “excessive heat warning” for coastal and inland valleys in the Los Angeles area, and for all mountain areas of Southern California.

The warnings, which are in effect for the afternoon hours through Wednesday, are issued when the combination of heat and humidity reaches a dangerous index level. Meteorologists say only about half a dozen are issued each year; this is the first for 1997.

“It has to be pretty darn warm to have one of these things,” said Weather Service meteorologist Rob Krohn. “It basically means that you shouldn’t go outside, especially if you’re elderly. And if you do have to go out, drink a lot of water.”

Also contributing to this story were Times staff writers Shawn Hubler, Eric Malnic and David Colker and correspondents Veronique de Turenne, Kevin O’Leary, Jack Leonard and Tracy Johnson.