Temperatures dropping but still unseasonably hot

A day after sweltering heat broke records and the National Weather Service thermometer, Southern California will get a bit of relief Tuesday, with temperatures expected to drop about 10 degrees in most places.

It will still be unseasonably hot. A high of 99 degrees was predicted for downtown Los Angeles and triple digits were forecast for the San Gabriel, San Fernando and Antelope valleys, said Stuart Seto, weather specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Above-average temperatures will continue through the weekend, when there is a slight chance of rain or thunderstorms in some areas.

Temperatures are falling because of the end of an offshore flow of hot, dry air from the mountains toward the ocean, Seto said.

The weather system created a rare, furnace-like heat, even along the coast, and set all-time records of 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles and 111 at Long Beach Airport.

Cooler ocean air should bring some respite to LAX, where travelers experienced 105-degree heat Monday. Air travelers can expect a high of 83 degrees at the airport Tuesday, which is slightly above average.

More cooling -- another 10 degrees or so -- is expected Wednesday, when a ridge of high pressure will move out of the area.

Once the high-pressure system moves east of the Los Angeles Basin on Wednesday, temperatures will start to drop even more.

-- Tony Barboza

Photos: Hottest day in L.A. ever - since 1877, anyway