SmelL.A.

Notice that strange garbage scent around the city? It's baffling several readers of Kevin Roderick's L.A. Observed, who have emailed him about the problem. The stench appears to be making its way from the Westwood area to the east side.

I caught a whiff tonight on the drive home from work on Tuesday night. The entire drive. From the Miracle Mile to at least Los Feliz/Silver Lake (luckily, it hasn't made it to Glendale yet). I chalked it up to my imagination -- or perhaps a lingering effect of Tuesday's freak thunderstorm.

But no one seems to know what's going on. Wrote one L.A. Observed reader:

Several friends and neighbors were noticing a stench in the air last night and today, observed from at least the area of Santa Monica Blvd/Westwood Blvd to Wilshire Blvd/Barrington Blvd. Have you heard about anything that would cause this smelling condition? One particular neighbor commented to me that several women who work at her company and live at various points in the above area each got up in the middle of the night to close their bedroom window to reduce the smell coming into their home.

UPDATE: The smell seems to have disappeared, although the mystery lingers. Several commenters at blogging.la also noticed it, comparing it to boiled cabbage, the pier and even rancid kimchi. LAVoice is also on it.