Valley Is Hot, but Not Enough to Break Record

The San Fernando Valley sizzled with heat Wednesday, but it wasn’t bad enough to stop Mary Watson and Janet Murray from briskly power-walking through Porter Ranch, a daily routine for the friends.

The Chatsworth residents pointed to a shopping center several blocks away, where they planned to stop for water.

“It’s like heading toward an oasis in this weather,” Murray said. “You think you are close, but it feels like you are never going to get there. Trust me. These walks seem a lot longer when temperatures rise.”

Mike Gould of Woodland Hills stopped at a Canoga Park gas station, taking a break from a 10-mile mountain-bike ride. The sweltering heat was enough for him to call it quits.

“It’s about as bearable as listening to Kathy Lee Gifford talk about her kids,” Gould said. “This kind of heat is something you can’t escape. You just have to deal with it.”

Although no records were broken Wednesday, Newhall hit 102, and it was 98 in Chatsworth and 92 in Woodland Hills, according to the National Weather Service.

Meteorologists were expecting the ridge of high pressure slowly moving across the state to send temperatures soaring. But a cool current off Catalina Island made life somewhat comfortable for Valley residents.

“It’s not quite as warm as we had earlier thought,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “The eddy caused the marine layer to deepen, and the low-lying clouds made the temperatures lower than we expected. I don’t believe there will be any records set today.”

Temperatures in the Valley ranged from the mid-80s to high 90s and are expected to stay that way for the next two days, Sweet said. The National Weather Service predicts that Los Angeles County will experience “unusually warm temperatures” this summer that will average in the 90s. County health officials are urging residents to take extra precautions when temperatures exceed 100 degrees.

“It’s an annual rite of summer,” said Dianne Robinson, a Canoga Park resident who has lived here for 12 years. “You get used to this heat. But it doesn’t mean I like it.”