Heat Wave Sizzles California, Southwest

Sept. 3, 2007 — -- A heat wave has southern California's temperatures soaring. The weather has brought everything from fire in the mountains to lightning and flash floods in the desert.

It even caused a funnel cloud in the dusty dry air outside the desert city of Lancaster, Calif., but mostly the weather has brought oppressively dry, triple-digit heat, which has settled over the area.

In Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power experienced its second-highest demand for power Saturday.

With scattered outages, millions of Californians flocked to the beaches. Even animals sought shelter from the heat, as they were difficult to find in the zoo.

But hiding animals were the least of California's problems.

Firefighters tried to keep up as small fires continued popping up. Late Sunday, several homes were damaged or destroyed in Corona, Calif. The heat is forecast to continue at least through today. And by Tuesday some of those highs of 108 might even drop to 104.

But, California isn't the only place struggling with sizzling temperatures. Much of the Southwest has seen triple-digit temperatures, too.

In fact, Phoenix hit a record this weekend with 32 days so far this year of temperatures at 110 or more.