Ah, fall. Time to roast some marshmallows over a fire pit at the beach as you wear a sweater, right?

Wrong.

Be prepared for near-record heat in Los Angeles today, according to National Weather Service forecasters. We're talking temperatures in the high 90s downtown and, yeah, in the 100s in the valleys. Even the beaches could see temps in the 90s.

Record highs could strike in Burbank (102 is forecast) and Long Beach (103), says NWS meteorologist Joe Sirard.

You think Halloween is scary? It could reach 105 in Woodland Hills. The horror.

The culprit is a high-pressure system that has moved into the Great Basin. It's pushing warm air across the desert, over the mountains and toward the sea. The air compresses and warms as it descends into Metro Los Angeles.  It's a typical offshore or Santa Ana situation, except without strong winds, Sirard said.

It'll stick around for a while.

After a slight cooldown, Monday might actually see a slight bump in temperatures, with wide-ranging reports of readings in the 90s across L.A., Sirard said.

An increase in surf is predicted, too, with a long-range west swell headed for our beaches today and tomorrow, he said. The NWS is warning folks to look out for strong rip currents.

A real cooldown might not happen until Tuesday, when highs could start to dip into the 80s, Sirard said. Chilly.

There's a 20 percent chance of showers Tuesday through Thursday, he said, with different computer models saying yes or no to rain. The system that hit us last weekend has circled into warmer climes off Mexico only to reappear as a possible return rainmaker, Sirard said.

It might not douse the temperatures that much because it's coming from the southwest, he said.

So don't break out that sweater just yet.

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