Keep those water bottles and fans in hand because the heat isn't expected to go anywhere but up this weekend.
Weather officials say temperatures in the Los Angeles and San Bernardino areas are expected to be near record-breaking levels -- in the high 90s and rounding off to 100 degrees or higher today and Sunday, with some relief on Monday.
Forecasters say it's going to reach 105 degrees today and 109 on Sunday in the Inland Empire and residents near downtown Los Angeles will see temperatures at 96 today and 99 on Sunday.
The mountains will see little change, with Big Bear Lake expected to reach 88 degrees today and 89 on Sunday, both days a degree away from breaking a record, said Brett Albright, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Inland Empire residents were dealing with the heat wave on Friday by taking dips into creeks, eating ice cream and watering their alpacas.
"If you turn the sprinkler or hose on, the second they hear it, they'll come by," said Tracy Pellegrino of Upland.
She and her husband Don own about a dozen of the gentle creatures, whose thermal properties are second to a polar bear's.
"The other day there, four of them were sitting right here," said Don Pellegrino, pointing to the round blue wading pool while hosing down a group of female alpacas.
A creek was a popular spot to keep cool for a Pomona family relaxing under a canopy of trees in San Antonio Canyon north of Claremont.
"I feel that every year is hotter than the previous one," said Flor Torres, 21 of Pomona. "But this year feels a little hotter than most."
While Torres enjoyed the warm breeze, her teenage sister Evelyn and twin brothers were playing and splashing in the creek.
"The cold water feels good because when you get out you feel the warmth of the sun rather than the extreme
heat," Evelyn Torres, 16, said. "It's a good balance."
The heat led Wesley Urbie of Chino to Handel's Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt in Upland.
Urbie on Friday was trying to eat his scoops of chocolate peanut butter brownie ice cream before it turned into a shake.
"It started to melt in like 5 seconds of me getting it," he said.
Jon Pucci, owner of the ice cream shop, said that when it gets hot, people want to cool off and they turn to ice cream.
"Since the heat has picked up, so has business," he said.
Records are about to be broken as a wave of furnace-like heat rolls across the Southland.
Ontario's 105 degrees on Friday equaled the record for the date in 1979.
But AccuWeather experts are saying that Ontario's 105 record high for today, set in 1972, will be broken. Ontario is supposed to top out today at 107 degrees.
Los Angeles County lifeguards are prepared for the influx of Southlanders expected to hit the beaches to cool down this weekend.
"We are attempting to staff every tower on the L.A. County coastline," said a county fire spokesman, Capt. Mike McIlroy. "There will be a larger-than-average turnout due to the heat wave, so be sure to be patient."
Ocean swells have been bigger and more violent this year as well, he added.
"The conditions could become very dangerous since they're larger than normal," McIlroy said. "It could be challenging for an average swimmer, so if you're a less than average swimmer be sure to be close to a lifeguard tower that's open and manned."
Power was out for nearly 2,000 customers Friday in Rancho Cucamonga. By 8:10 a.m. Southern California Edison crews were able to restore service. The outage affected customers south of the 210 Freeway between Day Creek Boulevard and Etiwanda Avenue, according to Edison's website.
Edison crews were also busy at a scheduled outage for 24 customers between 8 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Friday to replace a distribution pole near Francis Street and Mountain Avenue in Ontario.
Edison spokesman David Song said the power company tried to schedule maintenance projects during the cool season, "but there are some instances where we do have to upgrade when it might be a little warmer."
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