As today’s temperatures were forecast to reach 108 degrees — and stay about that high throughout the week — officials encouraged Santa Clarita Valley residents to stay indoors, drink plenty of fluids and check up on elderly relatives and neighbors.

Bonnie Bartling, weather specialist for the National Weather Service, said a high-pressure system moving into the Santa Clarita Valley is to blame for the excessive heat.

“A massive high pressure system is moving over us, and there is nothing to interfere with it to stop it from making temperatures rise,” Bartling said.

However, there’s hope of relief from the sweltering heat within a few days.

“A trough of low pressure will move in and cool things down as early as the end of the week,” Bartling said.

For those living and working in the Santa Clarita Valley on Monday, however, promise of milder weather several days away offered little comfort. Temperatures reached more than 104 degrees.

Kevin Charles, a Pasadena resident who commutes to Santa Clarita to work as a secretary, said that he stays inside his air-conditioned office when the temperature rises and that a simple task like walking outside to get lunch can become laborious.

“It drains your energy,” Charles said.

Bartling recommended that people drink plenty of fluids during the next few days and they stay out of the sun and stay inside an air-conditioned building.

She also suggested that people lower their expectations for exercising outdoors and that they check up on elderly relatives and neighbors, who are more prone to heat-related illnesses like heatstroke.

Los Angeles County officials also have opened up two cooling stations in the Santa Clarita Valley — one at the Valencia Library at 23743 W. Valencia Blvd., and at the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center in Newhall at 22900 Market St.

Bill Armstrong, of Valencia, lamented the hot, arid weather.

“It makes your throat too dry,” Armstrong said.