Notice that all of the San Fernando Valley is covered except Studio City and Toluca Lake. Other parts of the city that fall into the hot zone are on the Eastside and South LA | Map via Dept. of Water & Power This map shows summer average daily temperatures for the microclimates of the City of Los Angeles and was performed by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at UCLA. The two temperature zones were......

In a press release sent yesterday evening, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) stated that "peak energy demand reached a record-setting high last weekend and near-record on Monday, indicating the need for customers to reduce their electricity use." Megawatt usage over the weekend and on Monday broke records. Monday's demand was the second highest for a weekday in April while both Sunday and Saturday's power usage peaked at the highest ever for......

Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The trial of Juan Manuel Alvarez began today. Among his charges are 11 counts of murder for the January 2005 incident involving him parking his car on the tracks and causing a Metrolink train to derail. The stretch of San Diego beach closed to the public last week following a fatal shark attack has reopened. Swimmers are cautioned to keep close to the......

Yesterday was a scorcher. If you went to a farmers market, the festival in Thai Town or just stayed home, you knew that already. Records were broken this weekend with temperatures recorded at LAX in the mid 90s. Up in the northwest Valley, it hit 97. As for today and the rest of the week, "temperatures will drop slightly along the coast and more steeply inland," reported the Daily News. "And by Tuesday, the high......

Yesterday came news of afternoon rain for today. As of mid-morning, the National Weather Service said the rain is at a 70% chance. The bad news is if the predicted rain happens, the Dodgers' third game could be canceled and with a two-game winning streak, who wants that? "The storm forecast for tonight could result in the first rainout at Dodger Stadium since April 17, 2000," the Pasadena Star News reports. "Since the last rainout......

Today, the National Weather Service is predicting "steady rain and gusty winds" for tomorrow afternoon. "This system is expected to bring a 6-to-8-hour period of steady rain to Southwestern California Wednesday into early Wednesday night, with a slight chance of thunderstorms." Recently, the weather has been holding a high in the 60s, but after tomorrow's expected storm, temperatures are predicted to rise, giving Southern California a perfect 74 degree high by the weekend. Additionally, winds......

Photo by highervision via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr As of right now, the weather forecast for the weekend is looking pretty good with temperatures in the high 60s and partly cloudly skies. And to boot, it's a three-day weekend for lucky bunch of local government workers -- Caesar Chavez Day is on Monday. Last week, an effort to make the holiday national launched. You too could get the day off in respect for......

A very Zen moment: "I bet he is thinking, 'where did I park my car?'" | Photo by hinducow via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Rest in Peace, Mister Egg McMuffin inventor! Now you will not live to see the day when McDonald's food is made up entirely of plastic and high fructose corn syrup. So apparently Mexicans hate emo kids so much that they are now rioting. Somebody please remind Death......

The weather was strange all over Los Angeles last weekend, with dark, looming storm clouds juxtaposed against bright blue skies. Rain mixed with sunshine, and it seemed like earthquake weather. Then came the winds. This unusual combination made for some interesting light. Here is a photo of dusk in Long Beach last Saturday. Photo by Elise Thompson for LAist......

I wake up every morning with the weather and traffic reports on ABC7 Eyewitness News. (My boyfriend and I love to share a fresh pot of coffee every morning and gently guffaw at Garth Kemp's goofball antics and shameless puppy-promotion.) This morning, no joke, the weather report was one word: "Perfect." Yup, sunny, clear, and 77 degrees. When I came off the freeway this morning, I could see down the Hollywood hills straight through to......

Despite being considered as quirky nonsense, the mystery of freakish falls from the sky has become a regular occurrence over the years, and Los Angeles hasn't been exempt from such bizarre downpours and surreal showers. The setting was the Santa Monica Freeway, near Crenshaw Boulevard. The date December 19th of 1984. The weather was poor to say the least as traffic began to build on the freeway after severe storms battered the roads and heavy......

Julia Fordham | Photo by freefall 2007 via flickr If you cannot make it to hear the amazing jazz vocalist, Julia Fordham, at The Roxy tonight, opening up at Hotel Cafe tonight is Tiffany Randol, who we caught at one of strong>Alex & Sam's Tangier shows. The front woman of NYC based glam rock band, Valeze, has now gone solo singer/songwriter style, making Los Angeles her second home, and is bringing out a new......

It it 80 degrees on LAist's thermometer today | Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Shivering puppies can remove their little sweaters: it was warm today, wasn't it? 80 degree weather, when it was cold and rainy a mere 48 hours ago. We're not complaining. Naomi Campbell was hospitalized in Brazil this week...no, not for "exhaustion," but for treatment and removal of a small cyst. Man, that's so uncontroversial!......

Looks like the Academy Awards don't have the same in with Mother Nature and the big meteorologist in the sky the way the Tournament of Roses Parade does. It's a wet Sunday morning in the city known around the world for its perpetual sunshine, and when everyone's tuned into the 80th Annual Academy Awards this afternoon, the ugly truth will be revealed: It rains in Los Angeles! And it's probably going to keep raining. Cbs2.com......

Photo of the March 3rd, 2007 total lunar eclipse by Mr. Last Minute via Flickr Look up! Whether it's a plane, a bird or Superman, the sky is clearing up. And that means earlier fears of tonight's 7:01 p.m. total Lunar Eclipse viewing being blocked by clouds in Los Angeles can go wayside (Update: the moment we published this, the Valley started to get hit by cloud cover, but it seems on and off,......

Jordan McConnell of The Duhks | Photo via thir Myspace page Willie Nelson may be playing downtown tonight, but if you want some folk rock that's local and amazingly fresh, go hear Brian Wright and the Waco Tragedies. We heard them last week at their first show of their Hotel Cafe February residency and it was in-your-face and beautiful. But you've got a tough choice if you like this kind of music because when......

For those who joined us last night (thank you for coming!), we witnessed many hot and bothered moments with an excellent band we've never hard before -- The Makers (we can't find their website, help). They are in residency at Seven Grand every Tuesday and we highly recommend checking them out. For tonight, first night residencies for this month happen at the Viper Room, Hotel Cafe and the Silverlake Lounge (see our Guide to February......

Smash Fashion plays Monday nights at Crash Mansion | Photo via their MySpace page Month-long residencies are one of the best ways to catch up-and-coming bands in Los Angeles. You have at least four times to catch a band, and each time, if they are gaining popularity over each show, it will be harder to see them. Last Thursday at their final residency concert, The Airborne Toxic Event played a sold out show with......

"LA Colors" by Adamina via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr . Good news [for democracy] Voter registration for Tuesday's election is about 700,000 higher than during the last California presidential primary four years ago. Bad news [for politicos] Some county elections officials project that roughly 20 percent of the ballots might not be tallied until Wednesday or later. Good news [for Obama] The Ill Sen. received the nod of approval from the largest......

Okay, so maybe the only time people in Los Angeles gathered around to see how something affiliated with a groundhog turned out was when the Bill Murray-Andie MacDowell movie Groundhog Day premiered in 1993, cementing the comic idea of life on an endless replay loop in our pop culture lexicon. But early this morning, in a far-off place called Gobbler's Knob, Pennsylvania, the real celebrity groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, drew crowds as his annual (and allegedly......

LA's homeless population is filling up local shelters, with some trying to gain permission from officials to allow people to stay inside 24 hours a day. Extra cots have been set up, and shelters like the Union Rescue Mission are at capacity. Many Southern California Edison customers found themselves without power last night thanks to the weather. The primary concentration of outages was in the Lake Arrowhead area. Traffic woes: Roads through Griffith Park were......

Fire: La Salle Avenue Elementary School sustained damage today, but no injuries were reported, due to a fire on the second floor this afternoon. Rain: A small tornado did indeed land on shore last night in Ventura County which is probably what led the NWS to issue last night's tornado warning for LA. It was an "empty air station hangar at the Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu" that took the hit, losing its......

View Larger Map Closures have been announced for some areas of Griffith Park due to excessive flooding and debris. The closures are Zoo Drive to Griffith Park Drive, Outbound Griffith Park Drive, In and Outbound Crystal Springs Drive and the Bird Sanctuary “The park has experienced some minor to moderate debris flows and flooding on several of its main roads and the Department will be implementing hard closure of some of areas of the park......

Street flooding on Rossmore Ave in the Hancock Park of Los Angeles when storm drains became clogged by debris. | Photo by Jonathon Alcom (Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos Flickr pool. Through 10 a.m. this morning, here are the rain and snow totals in inches from the National Weather Service. Rain Downtown LA -- 3.43 Long Beach -- 2.85 Santa Monica -- 2.69 Bel Air -- 3.39 Beverly Hills -- 4.20 Hollywood --......

We get to call it a "Winter Storm" because it's storming and it's January, and not to overstate the obvious, but it is Winter Storming like nobody's business out there. Although the rain may have tapered off somewhat in the overnight hours, the greater Los Angeles area is bracing for another onslaught of downpours, with more high winds, flood risks, and snow. Snow? What? Huh? Yes, Angelenos, we're talking the little white specs that......

Brace yourselves, Southlanders--there could be tornadoes brewing out there. The National Weather Service in Oxnard has issued a Tornado Warning for southwest Los Angeles County in southwest California, including the cities of Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Topanga until 9:45 p.m. PST. [KABC] Although it's a brief warning, the overall weather picture remains grim here in the greater Los Angeles area. We're under warnings and advisories galore; the flood advisory is still up for Ventura and......

The following photos of this unique week in Southern California weather were handpicked from your contributions to the LAist Flickr Photo Pool and elsewhere with permission or via Creative Commons license. Keep 'em comin'! Contribute to LAist by joining our Flickr Pool or send photos directly to zach@laist.com From the 20th floor of the Sunset Media Tower aka 'The House of Blues Building,' 6255 W. Sunset Blvd. by Michael J. Lambie. Daily rain records set......

News on Heath Ledger's untimely and tragic death is still developing. Keep checking our sister site Gothamist for updates. OMG, girls, have you heard? Caroline on Crack is holding the best contest evarrrrr over at her site -- head over now for your chance to win a date with one of L.A.'s most eligible bachelors, Andy Sternberg, our very own News Editor! I can say with utmost confidence that he is totally not a......

Part of an ongoing series. Two weeks ago, locals The Airborne Toxic Event (MySpace), declared one of three bands to watch by The LA Times' Kevin Bronson, performed the first of five shows for their January residency at Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake. The artists that are sharing the spotlight with them are a veritable who's who of rising stars on the indie music scene. Thus far, they have included Canon Blue (MySpace), The......

US Figure Skating champion Christopher Bowman, 40, was found dead yesterday in a room at the Budget Inn in North Hills. The former child actor and successful figure skater in the late 80s and early 90s was also known for his powerful struggles with alcohol and drug use. His death is being investigated as a possible overdose. A fire that took place last night at San Jose Edison Academy, a West Covina charter school, is......