VERGING ON THE EXTREME : SIZZLING SUMMERS, FREEZING WINTERS PUTS WOODLAND HILLS IN RECORD BOOKS.

Byline: Keith Stone Daily News Staff Writer

Sherman Oaks may have its latte shops and boutiques. Chatsworth has its horse ranches, and Studio City can tout its studios.

But Woodland Hills - well, Woodland Hills has weather, the most extreme heat and cold recorded anywhere across the San Fernando Valley's 222 square miles.

Temperature records collected by the National Weather Service and its army of observers show that this tale of the thermometer is more than just a matter of a few degrees:

Compared with Van Nuys, Burbank, Chatsworth and Northridge, Woodland Hills averaged as much as 10 degrees warmer during the hottest months this summer and nearly 10 degrees cooler at its lowest during the coldest months.

Woodland Hills is the North Dakota of the Valley from December to February; it might as well be renamed the Death Valley of the Valley between July and September.

October in Woodland Hills ain't so cool, either.

``Right here feels like you are in the kitchen - and you're cooking!'' exclaimed a sweating Mortaza Sayed one day last week as he stood next to the weather observation station at Los Angeles Pierce College.

That day, Pierce College sweltered at 96 degrees, while Burbank hit only 88; Van Nuys peaked at 91; and Northridge made it to 92. The Los Angeles Civic Center was a mere 84.

This was no fluke.

During August, Burbank enjoyed an average high of just 90.9, while Woodland Hills sweated it out at a record average high of 101.2 degrees - far above the Los Angeles Civic Center's 84.

And when winter rolled into town in January, Woodland Hills' monthly low averaged a chilly 38, while Van Nuys basked in a balmy 48.4 degrees, about the same as the Civic Center.

Exactly why Woodland Hills has such extreme weather is simple, meteorologists say.

Location, location - location.

``The primary thing is: What degree of access does a given location have to air from the coast? That is the source of cooling air during the hot season,'' said Warren Blier, who teaches ``Advanced Synoptic Meteorology'' at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Unfortunately for Woodland Hills, it is tucked in the corner of the Valley and all but isolated from sea breezes by the towering Santa Monica Mountains on one side, the Simi Hills on another and Chalk Hill on a third.

Some cooling ocean-borne breezes eventually seep into the Valley, but first they must travel across the Oxnard Plain on the west and through the Cahuenga Pass and Glendale Gap on the southeast.

``Without the marine influence, the Valley would be as hot as Palm Springs,'' said William Reid, a climatologist who measures Woodland Hills temperatures for the National Weather Service.

Woodland Hills is last in line for these breezes, so by the time they reach the West Valley, they've lost much of their cooling power in Burbank, Van Nuys, Northridge and other communities.

That's why Burbank is consistently more than 3 degrees cooler than Van Nuys, which, in turn, is some 7 degrees cooler than Woodland Hills.

About 1:30 p.m. every day, the second set of cooling winds begins to enter the West Valley after struggling across the Oxnard Plain and over the Conejo Grade.

West meets east in Woodland Hills at exactly the hottest point of the day, leaving the air calm and hot, hot, hot near Pierce College, between Canoga and Tampa avenues.

One benefit of Woodland Hills' isolation and calm air: ``You probably don't have much smog,'' Blier said.

During the winter, the Valley becomes a giant pool of cold air. Frosty air tumbles off the mountains and settles at the lowest points, mostly along the Los Angeles River.

``They are the lowest spots. This is where nighttime air can cool. The air is stuck, it can't drain any lower,'' Reid said.

Probably the most frigid spot is behind the Sepulveda Dam, although Pierce College is a close second because its recording station is close to the river and far from buildings.

``Any place along the Los Angeles River that is free from development will be the coldest,'' Reid said.

During December, Pierce College averaged a low of 39.7 degrees; Reid's station in Woodland Hills averaged 44.2; Chatsworth, 46.2; Van Nuys, 47.9; and Burbank, 46.5.

Not bad for a place that most people suspect has no weather at all.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map, Chart

Photo: (color) Jacques Zaimeddine wipes the swe at from his face after a tough soccer workout at Los Angeles Pierce College.

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News

Map/Chart: THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY'S HOT (AND COLD) SPOT: WOODLAND HILLS

Source: Wiiliam Reid, Dave Gorton and the National Weather Service