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LOS ANGELES-Thousands of people were briefly left without power Saturday as the city's electrical grid strained in the midst of a statewide heat wave, which was expected to bring triple-digit temperatures through the Labor Day weekend. Highs were expected to reach 113 in Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley and well over 100 in many other valley and desert areas of Southern California. At the same time, unstable weather caused by monsoonal moisture from the south prompted concerns of sudden thunderstorms in valleys, mountains and deserts. Flash-flood warnings were issued through Saturday for those areas in San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties.The National Weather Service issued a warning Saturday afternoon that a rotating storm near Lake Elsinore could produce hail and winds gusting to 60 mph.Another flash-flood warning was issued for possibly heavy rain from potential thunderstorms in northeastern Los Angeles County, including the upper-desert cities of Lancaster and Palmdale.The California Independent System Operator, which oversees the state's power grid, said no major shortages were expected through Monday. Still, it urged customers to continue conserving electricity by setting air conditioning thermostats higher and waiting to use major appliances until after dark.In Los Angeles, which has its own power system, scattered blackouts were reported as some equipment broke down.The city's Department of Water and Power said an estimated 5,700 homes and businesses were blacked out at some point on Saturday, including 2,600 in the Eagle Rock area, although few outages lasted more than an hour.There was "tremendous strain" on electrical transmission equipment because nights remain hot and people were running air conditioners around the clock, said Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for the Department of Water and Power."I compare it to running a car at 100 mph for 24 hours," he said.The DWP said its power load peaked at 6,107 megawatts at midafternoon Friday, second only to its all-time record peak of 6,165 megawatts set on July 24, 2006.Around the state, dozens of cooling centers were open in parks, libraries, senior centers and county fairgrounds. The shelters were sparsely attended Saturday and hospitals also reported few patients with heat-related problems, said Carol Singleton, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Emergency Services.However, she urged people to check on vulnerable neighbors, such as senior citizens, to make sure they were getting enough water."That's really key, to look out for each other during this heat wave," she said.In Central California, crews battling a two-month-old wildfire in Los Padres National Forest worried about hot and dry weather that could undo some of their work.Highs were expected to reach 102 to 107 and coupled with low humidity, "you've got the mixture for extreme fire danger," fire spokesman Larry Comerford said. "We're on alert."The fire was 97 percent contained and was expected to be fully surrounded on Sunday after scorching 240,207 acres or wilderness, or about 375 square miles.Several other small fires also were burning in the forest. They were caused by lightning strikes that accompanied dry thunderstorms which hit the area last week. The largest two, at 200 and 30 acres, respectively, were burning in remote areas and no homes were threatened,Comerford said.As in the days of Noah....
