L.A. RESIDENTS SCRAMBLE TO KEEP COOL AS 6-DAY HEAT WAVE BEGINS.

Byline: Eric Wahlgren Daily News Staff Writer

While cruising the sun-baked streets Tuesday, Maria Parra barely had to flick on the chime-like music that blares from her ice cream truck.

As the first of a six-day heat wave dropped down on Los Angeles, with the mercury hitting 93 degrees in Van Nuys and 95 in Woodland Hills, customers practically charged her white truck for a bit of sweet relief.

Although Tuesday's brutal heat in Van Nuys enabled Parra to sell boxes of frozen treats and frosty malts, only Pasadena, Oxnard and Lompoc actually reported record high temperatures Tuesday.

Parra's business may heat up even more today, as temperatures are expected to climb to as high as 99 degrees in Van Nuys and to a whopping 101 in Woodland Hills.

``In the valleys, it is going to be a burner,'' said Bill Hoffer, a National Weather Service meteorologist. ``It is going to be the peak day (of the heat wave).''

The same weather conditions that heated up the Los Angeles area Tuesday will be keeping the region furnace hot for the next few days, said Vladimir Ryshko, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Warm inland winds are blowing westward toward the Pacific Ocean, making the coastal region toasty, Ryshko said. Further pushing up mercury, Ryshko said, is the fact that there are few clouds, leaving little to keep the sun's rays from hitting the area with their maximum strength.

Although Parra said she hopes the heat wave lingers, she said a dramatic rise in temperatures could work against her.

``When it gets too hot,'' Parra said, ``people don't want to come outside at all.''

But for now, the forecast is good news.

``Usually I have to work more for a sale, like yell out what I have in stock,'' said Parra, as children and their parents lined up outside the converted mail truck at a stop on Noble Avenue near Sepulveda Boulevard.

Across the city, residents Tuesday took down the tops off their convertible cars, put on tank tops and reached for something cold as the mercury soared, hitting 91 at the Los Angeles Civic Center, which was 9 degrees hotter than the previous day.

On the first day of the heat wave expected to last until Sunday, temperatures jumped by 3 degrees over the previous day in both Woodland Hills and Van Nuys.

Burbank logged a balmy 93 on Tuesday, up from 88 degrees the previous day.

Meanwhile, Pasadena hit 96 degrees, beating an old record of 95 set the same day in 1973. Usually cool Oxnard reported a high of 88, smashing the old record of 83 set in 1968. And Lompoc, near Santa Barbara, came in at 87, tying a 1994 record.

That full-on heat attack was the reason Emma Sanchez caved in and decided to spring for the money to buy her son Emmanuel, 6, and Alondra, 5, malts from Parra's truck when it stopped on Noble Avenue.

``I'll do anything, if it helps them cool down a little bit,'' said Sanchez, as she walked her children home from school. ``For spring, it's really hot.''

Janet Torres, one of Parra's loyal customers, who comes to the same spot every school day at the edge of the Fulton Middle School Campus, said she could tell Tuesday was a real scorcher.

``I haven't felt this hot in a long time,'' said Janet, 14, as she bit into a frozen treat. ``More than ever, I needed something cool to eat.''

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PHOTO Dulce Hernandez, 2, eats a frozen treat in Van Nuys, where the heat hit 93 degrees Tuesday.

John McCoy/Daily News