Relief in Sight From California Heat Wave
Temperatures easing for Californians beaten down by nearly weeklong heat wave



Californians exhausted by a nearly weeklong heat wave looked for relief Sunday from the triple-digit temperatures that have strained air conditioners and power companies.

Sunday's temperatures in much of the state were expected to be 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the day before, the National Weather Service said.

Thermometers had surged all over the state on Saturday, reaching 95 degrees at San Jose, 105 at San Diego, 107 at Burbank and 107 at San Luis Obispo. Long Beach Airport posted a record high of 100.

A fresh round of power failures sent repair crews back into the field Saturday, just as service was restored to most of the 8,000 customers blacked out the day before. By late Saturday, about 1,500 customers still lacked power, said Terry Schneider, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Saturday's demand for electricity in the Los Angeles area was a record for a weekend day in June, she said. "As the heat increased, we were having more and more trouble maintaining the level of customer demand," Schneider said. Wildfires also have erupted in the hot, dry weather, with the governor's office saying Saturday that lightning had sparked nearly 400 fires in Northern California. Firefighters feared additional blazes because of tinder-dry conditions following the driest spring on record.

At least one death has been linked to the heat, a 77-year-old woman who apparently left her car near the California-Arizona line south of Lake Havasu, Ariz., on Monday in search of her elderly husband.

_{Bron: ABC}