MERCURY RISES TO RECORD-BREAKING 87.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Beach and T-shirt weather returned to Los Angeles on Sunday as the mercury downtown soared to a 34-year high, and temperatures elsewhere rose to the low 80s.

Los Angeles Civic Center recorded 87 degrees, breaking the record of 85 degrees set in 1962, said Richard Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

"It was an above-normal day for all of the Southland. You can't beat it for a January 7, at least compared to the East Coast," Thompson said.

High temperatures included 82 in Van Nuys and Woodland Hills, 81 in Northridge and Burbank, and 84 degrees at Los Angeles International Airport, Thompson said.

Forecasters said the heat - brought on by a ridge of high pressure combined with an off-shore flow - peaked Sunday, and temperatures should drop today.

Inland highs will be in the low 80s, with coastal readings in the low 70s.

In January 1995, 12.56 inches of rain fell in Los Angeles in what is typically one of the wettest months of any nondrought year.

"There's still plenty of time in the month to get significant rainfall," Thompson said. "For the near future, though, it looks like there's going to be dry conditions across Southern California."