Heat Wave Welcomes First Day Of Summer In Westwood-Century City

LOS ANGELES, CA — Thursday marks the first day of summer, and mother nature is bring a heat wave to make sure we don't forget it.

The hot spell will get underway in L.A. County Wednesday. Temperatures in the valley will reach the 90s and 100s, while the coastal cities remain comfortable in the 70s, forecasters said.

Because of a strong upper-level ridge, inland temperatures will be 8- 12 degrees above normal until the weekend, said NWS meteorologist Dave Bruno, adding that temperatures along the coast will be much more bearable thanks to onshore flow. He said L.A. County conditions do not quite add up to a heat wave.

The National Weather Service forecast a combination of sunny and partly cloudy skies in L.A. County Wednesday and highs of 72 in Avalon and at LAX; 77 in Long Beach; 79 in downtown L.A.; 86 in Burbank and San Gabriel; 88 in Pasadena; 90 on Mount Wilson; 92 in Woodland Hills; 95 in Saugus; 103 in Palmdale; and 104 in Lancaster.

Sunny skies were forecast in Orange County, along with highs of 70 in San Clemente; 71 in Newport Beach; 74 in Laguna Beach; 81 in Irvine; 82 in Anaheim; and 85 in Fullerton and Mission Viejo.

L.A. County temperatures will begin cooling down Sunday. Orange County temperatures will remain roughly at Wednesday's levels through Tuesday.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo: Shutterstock