A Valentine’s Day heat wave kept lovers toasty this weekend, with huge beach crowds and massive coastal traffic jams from Trestles to County Line Beach.
Saturday’s high of 85 degrees at UCLA broke the old record, and indicated just how toasty things were on the Westside.
Tens of thousands of people crowded beaches. Traffic on Pacific Coast Highway at sundown was backed up from the McClure Tunnel 12 miles back to downtown Malibu, while another two-mile line of cars waited to get out of Zuma Beach. At 3 p.m., it was 83 in downtown Los Angeles, according to the official DTLA federal thermometer near USC.
More hot — but not quite that hot — weather was predicted for today. Winds were due to shift around and blow in from the ocean, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Curt Kaplan.
The onshore flow will be weak and the mercury is forecast to rise again by Tuesday, although not dramatically, Kaplan said.
Temperatures in the mid-80s inland and upper 70s along the coast were forecast today, according to the weather service.
