Hot temperatures forecast for the next few days have prompted officials to warn about increased brush fire danger.
At Angeles National Forest, officials on Sunday raised the fire threat level from "high" to "very high." Firefighters around the region will be on heightened alert during the heat wave, which comes after two months of cool summer weather.
Forecasters say a high-pressure system moving in from Arizona and New Mexico will boost temperatures to between 90 and 104 degrees in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, making for a heat wave that will peak on Monday.
One of the Southland's perennial hot spots, Woodland Hills, could reach the triple digits, and Pasadena may hit the mid-90s early this week.
"The summer heat has finally arrived," said Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. This is expected to be only the second time this summer that temperatures will top 100 in the valleys.
The heat will raise wildfire concerns in the mountains and Antelope Valley as humidity drops, the weather service said.
Anyone seeking relief may want to head closer to the beach, which will be protected from the heat by the marine layer, the low, cool clouds that hug the coast in the evenings and mornings. Downtown L.A. will hit the 80s through Tuesday, while highs at the beaches will stay in the 70s.
-- Rong-Gong Lin II