Heat wave: Today will bring 'peak in heating,' forecasters say

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Randy Thomas of Vacaville, Calif., tries to fry an egg on the salt flats in Death Valley’s Badwater Basin. He drove there to experience the heat. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Sarah Mason, left, and Lance Lindsey, both from Los Angeles, and Joey Teixeira of Honolulu have their picture taken with of a thermometer -- showing 132 degrees -- at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Randy Thomas, left, of Vacaville, Calif., helps Andreas Kinnen from Germany hold up a thermometer in Death Valley’s Badwater Basin. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Conchi Almanza takes a photo of Mar Rodriguez in front of a digital thermometer at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley. The two tourists from Spain were likely to experience history Sunday with record temperatures forecast. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

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Rafael Artsrunyan, 2, splashes in the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain in Los Feliz. (Bret Hartman / For The Times)

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During the heat wave, children swim at the LA84 Foundation/John C. Argue Swim Stadium pool in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park neighborhood. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Children cool off in the swimming pool in the Exposition Park neighborhood. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Leslie, Ernesto and Sharai Najera -- 7, 6 and 7, respectively -- shade themselves as they walk along Broadway in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. (Susannah Kay / Los Angeles Times)

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David Murillio, 8, left, and Joshua Rodriguez, 9, cool off in a two-story inflatable pool in Boyle Heights. The boys were on their way to Pecan Recreation Center when they saw that their neighbors had rented the pool and jumped in. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Pedestrians with cold drinks stroll past a window display of bathing suits at the Looksy Couture Boutique in Palm Springs. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A decorative sun in the window of the Cocky Cactus gift shop hints at the heat on the streets of Palm Springs. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Palm Springs resident Mike Cruz cools off with a Coke in the air-conditioned Raspados Colima ice cream shop along Highway 111 in Cathedral City, where temperatures hovered around 110 degrees Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Leonardo Zenaidi, 5, plays in the fountain at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles as temperatures continue to climb Friday. (Sydney Stewart / Los Angeles Times)

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Gabby Iglesias plays with her 4-month-old daughter McKayla at Grand Park¿s Arthur J. Will Memorial Fountain. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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A marine layer still hovers over Zuma Beach in Malibu on Thursday afternoon. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Mercedes Lopez, 2, relaxes in the shady part of the wading area in Grand Park. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Next to Echo Park Lake, Mishelle Parry reads in the shade as an ice cream vendor walks by. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman walks dogs past a fireworks stand in Santa Ana. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A man walks along the sand in Long Beach on Thursday morning as sun breaks through the marine layer. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Rosie Melendez, 9, strikes a pose as she jumps into a small pool in Boyle Heights. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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Greg Nunez helps Raiders Youth Cheer, a civic youth group, set up a fireworks stand in Ventura County. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

By Matt Stevens

June 30, 2013 10:16 AM PT

Areas of Southern California experienced record high temperatures Saturday, and forecasters say that Sunday could be even hotter.

“Today is supposed to be the peak in heating,” National Weather Service meteorologist Carol Smith said.

Smith said that the hottest temperatures tend to get recorded in the late afternoon, between about 2 and 4 p.m. An excessive heat warning remains in place for the Antelope Valley, other valley areas, the Santa Monica Mountains and inland coastal areas. Smith said heat records could fall in any of those parts of Los Angeles County.

PHOTOS: Heat wave in the Southland

“I’m certain we’ll break day records, and it’s possible that we’ll break some all-time records today,” she said.

Specifically, she pointed to Lancaster and Palmdale, which were expecting high of 113 degrees. The area’s all-time record is 114. Woodland Hills could hit 111 degrees, while Camarillo could edge up from the high 80s to low 90s on Sunday.

The weather service forecasts temperatures of about 130 degrees at Death Valley’s Furnace Creek. At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, the mercury in the heart of the desert community stood at 112.

“This is just really strong high pressure and it’s parked over us,” Smith said. “It’s not moving. It’s not cooling off at night. We’re not getting the relief.”

According to the weather service, several desert and Inland Empire communities set records Saturday for that day of the year. Officials said the extreme heat will continue until at least Tuesday.

“It’s early in the heat season. Usually our hottest months are August and September. We’re not even in July yet, but this is a massive high pressure system and it’s just smothering,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.

A slight cooling is to start Monday and last through July 4, though temperatures will still be above normal, forecasters said. The last significant heat wave in Southern California was in 2009, when the region baked for two weeks.

In Los Angeles, the heat is a particular concern to firefighters because it comes in a year of record dry conditions that have already sparked several major brush fires in the area.

Fireworks also went on sale Friday in some areas, adding another fire danger. Fireworks will be sold in 295 designated communities in the state through the Fourth of July.

Since January, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to about 2,900 fires, department spokesman Daniel Berlant said. In an average year, he said, it would have responded to fewer than 1,800 by this time.

Dry brush is a reason for the increase in fires, Berlant said. Current weather conditions are more typical of late August or early September, he said.

“We’re in a long-term drought,” climatologist Patzert said. “The situation is extremely crispy and dry. That equals incendiary.”

Several agencies opened cooling centers — air-conditioned facilities where the public can escape the heat — in L.A. County. For information about the centers, call 211 or view an interactive map of the centers online.

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