Hot Weather

The heat wave that has scorched Southern California for several days is expected to ebb starting Monday as temperatures cool and humidity falls. The region will have cooled as much as 15 degrees by midweek after reaching highs of 93 in downtown Los Angeles, 97 at Getty Center and 108 in Chatsworth on Saturday, forecasters said. But the heat remained at full strength Sunday, prompting the weekend's second excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service. Many took refuge at beaches, pools and air-conditioned shopping malls.

Exercising in hot weather used be considered somewhat dangerous for kids. Doctors believed that children's bodies couldn't handle heat stress as well as adults' bodies. According to recent research, however, that is simply not true. Kids and adults exercising or working in hot weather have the same skin and rectal temperatures and cardiovascular response. That is good news for a nation with high rates of childhood overweight and obesity. "Most healthy children and adolescents can safely participate in outdoor sports and other physical activities through a wide range of challenging warm to hot climactic conditions," wrote the authors of a new policy statement in the journal Pediatrics on Sunday.

Nearly half the country's population sweltered under essentially triple-digit temperatures, as brutal heat and humidity afflicted a vast swath of the nation from New England to Texas. At least 15 states were under heat warnings Tuesday. The heat advisories — issued when the combination of temperature and humidity makes the perceived temperature more than 100 degrees — covered areas where 150 million people live, representing nearly half the nation's 310 million people, said Eli Jacks of the National Weather Service.

Easy. That's how Brittany Lincicome described her six-under-par 66 Thursday in the first round of the $2-million Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. Stacy Lewis described her afternoon of golf a little differently. Lewis actually made a bogey in the 100-degree heat and had to step up and make a six-foot putt to save that bogey. But then came a stretch of three straight birdies and so, like Lincicome, Lewis also shot a 66. That puts the sometime roommates and frequent dinner companions together in the lead after the first round of the LPGA's first major of the season.

Crews battled a brush fire Tuesday that scorched parched hillsides and threatened homes in Kern County as inland areas of Southern California sizzled through triple-digit temperatures. The blaze had burned 1,100 acres by Tuesday night as aircraft made repeated assaults on flames that raced across ridge tops and into steep canyons near the communities of Lebec and Frazier Park, officials said. As heat baked the region for the second consecutive day, people sought relief at beaches, where large waves and strong rip currents kept lifeguards busy making rescues.

BERLIN -- French fries in Germany could be significantly shorter this year due to the heatwave that has baked Germany and much of Europe this month, the German Farmers' Association (DBV) said on Friday. Hot and dry weather has led to a meager harvest of extra-large potatoes used to produce the ideal-length French fry. "The French fries industry and consumers will have to brace themselves for shorter fries," said spokeswoman Verena Telaar, adding that smaller potatoes mean that fries will probably be 45 millimeters (1.8 inches)

The gates had not yet opened at Raging Waters in San Dimas on a recent sunny morning, but assistant Girl Scout leader Brenda Mauss was already in the parking lot urging her five charges to slather on the sunscreen. The plan was to be in line for the 10 a.m. opening to wring every drop of pleasure from the day. Admission to the water park — the state's largest — costs $36.99. But Mauss had discount coupons from a fast-food restaurant that knocked 10 bucks off each ticket.

Hot weather continued to scorch Southern California on Friday, with firefighters battling brush fires, businesses reporting runs on cold treats and air conditioners and everyone bracing for a few more days of sauna-like weather. Firefighters were able to contain or gain ground on three large fires caused by lightning strikes earlier in the week in Riverside County, even as temperatures crested above 105 degrees there. And in Los Angeles County, where lightning sparked 11 small fires Thursday in the Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Don Kunitomi said all were contained.

How hot was it Tuesday on the East Coast? "I feel like I'm taking an endless hot yoga class, fully clothed," said Marcy Leash, 28, emerging from the subway in Manhattan's Union Square. "It's like driving into a hair dryer," Alex Goren, 70, wrote in a text message as he tooled around Long Island's swanky East End with the top down on his red convertible. "It feels like I'm standing behind a muffler out here," said Megan Heltzel, 23, on a street corner in Washington.

The stores may be stocked with Halloween costumes and the ski runs may be open at Mammoth Mountain, but the weather was anything but fall-like Friday as temperatures soared throughout Southern California. From the bleachers of Dodger Stadium to the shores of Oxnard, the mercury reached the high 90s and even the low triple digits in some places as a heat wave enveloped the region. And today could be a repeat as forecasters said temperatures wouldn't begin to dip until Sunday. The spike in temperatures -- it reached 98 degrees in downtown Los Angeles -- perplexed many Southern Californians because it followed quickly on the heels of a Pacific storm that soaked the region and allowed Mammoth Mountain to open on one of its earliest days ever.