Temps Hit 113 in L.A.

A blistering fall heat wave broke records across California Monday, including an all-time high of 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles.

Downtown hit the record-high temperature for a few minutes at about 12:15 p.m., breaking the previous record of 112 degrees set on June 26, 1990, said Stuart Seto, a weather specialist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. It was the hottest temperature recorded in downtown LA since record-keeping began in 1877.

The fall heat wave pushed temperatures well over 100 degrees from Anaheim, home of Disneyland, to San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz and Salinas on the usually balmy Central Coast. Many records were set or tied.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power on Monday recorded the highest-ever demand for electricity. The utility registered a peak demand of 6,177 megawatts, breaking a previous record of 6,165 megawatts from July 2006.

The National Weather Service said the siege of dry heat was being caused by a ridge of high pressure over the West that was keeping the Pacific Ocean's normal moist and cool influence at bay.

Conditions are expected to remain hot Tuesday but not as extreme.

Who Said L.A. Traffic Couldn't get any Worse?

It can when the President is in town for a fundraiser. 

Drivers abandoned their cars, yelled at police officers and fumed as traffic came to a halt for the presidential visit Monday night. Some streets in Hancock Park were even closed to pedestrians.

One man went for a run just as the area was locked down and found himself waiting 25 minutes at a yellow police tape barrier to get back home.

Residents reported that commutes and errands that typically took minutes turned into hours-long ordeals. One particular complaint was that streets remained blocked for hours -- even when Obama was inside TV producer John Wells' Hancock Park home at a fund-raiser.

"What has occurred is way beyond reasonable and can only be described as negligent," L.A. resident Kevin McCarthy said in an e-mail to The L.A. Times.

The Los Angeles Fire Department reported no delays for emergency vehicles. But the LAPD and other officials heard an earful from angry motorists.