The worst of Southern California’s ongoing heat wave is expected to land Thursday, but relief is not yet in sight. Temperatures will remain toasty over the weekend, and another hot spell is forecast next week.
Temperatures will hit the triple digits in the San Fernando and Antelope valleys on Thursday, while interior regions of Los Angeles County will see temperatures in the 90s, according to the National Weather Service. Lancaster even has a shot at matching its previous daily temperature record of 107 degrees, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Devin Black.
“Temperatures will warm up to 4 to 8 degrees above normal Thursday, especially away from the immediate coast,” the weather service said. “A slight cooling trend is [forecast for] Friday through the weekend but temperatures will remain above normal away from the immediate coast well into next week.”
A slight weakening of the high pressure system and an increase in onshore flow Friday and Saturday are expected to bring temperatures down one to three degrees. However, warmer valleys are still expected to reach 100 degrees. Current models predict that the weather will warm up again on Monday, probably hitting temperatures similar to Thursday’s.
Conditions on Thursday will be even hotter in the Inland Empire and inland areas of San Diego County, where the weather service has issued regional heat advisories through Friday evening. Although temperatures in L.A. County are expected to be just below the heat advisory threshold, residents are still advised to limit strenuous outdoor activity and watch out for signs of heat sickness.
The warming began Wednesday, when Palm Springs hit 116 degrees, Woodland Hills reached 101 and Lancaster topped out at 100.
The sustained hot weather will continue to dry out vegetation, increasing the risk of wildfire starts and worsening conditions around blazes already burning across Southern California.
“We’ll have pretty gusty onshore winds, anywhere from 15 to 25 miles an hour, with gusts to 20 to 40 across the interior locations each afternoon and evening, strongest across the I-5 corridor, Antelope Valley and southwest Santa Barbara County coast,” Black said. “With that, we’ll have an extended period of elevated fire weather risk.”
California is already on pace for the worst wildfire year in recent history, thanks to several large fires in Central and Southern California — including the devastating January firestorms in Los Angeles County.
An air quality advisory is in place over most of the Inland Empire and parts of L.A. County because of a trio of ongoing fires.
As of Wednesday night, the Gifford fire had burned more than 91,000 acres in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, the Rosa fire in Riverside County was at nearly 1,700 acres, and the Gold fire had consumed about 1,080 acres in San Bernardino County. Residents living in affected areas are advised to avoid or limit outdoor activity.
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