The Chrysler K-Car Club

Today, was a day that defied all scientific logic. It was a deadly day. Southern California coastal regions beat the Southwest deserts in setting a national record for a heatwave. Downtown Los Angeles broke its high record since weatherkeeping began at 113F at 12:05 PM. Downtown is near the ocean. No ocean breeze came to moderate it and it stayed over 110F until about 4PM. More baffling, it was over 100 degrees in most places as early as 11:00 AM!! By noon, all coastal locations that were not within 2 miles of the beach were 108-113F at noon. The inland LA valleys, which traditionally are always over 100 in the summer, were cooler and mostly in the 105-108 degree range. The deserts were even cooler. Only 100 at most in high deserts and only 109 at Palm Springs, and not until 5PM. At noon, downtown LA was 113 and Palm Springs was only 101. The air was so intense and so dry. Santa Monica, known for being a cold place in the summer, stayed steady at 102 all afternoon if you were more than 2 miles from shore. Catalina Island, out in the Pacific Ocean 20 miles off shore, was 100-104 all afternoon if you were more than one mile away from the beach or had a hill in your line of sight.