Heat records were set across Los Angeles County before noon Monday.
And the heat record also fell in Orange County, where the 93 degree high at Santa Ana beat the previous record, 89, set in 1997.
It was already 89 degrees at noon at the official downtown weather station, at USC. That edged past the previous all-day record, 88, set in 1985, the National Weather Service said.
The mercury had hit 86 at LAX at noon. The old LAX record, 84, was set in 1977.
And in Westwood, the air had reached 88 at 12 p.m., breaking the previous record of 84 from 1985.
The noon reading of 88 at Long Beach tied the previous hottest-ever Feb. 15 on record, in 1977.
–City News Service