After week of record heat, here is what Southern California can expect in coming days
After a week of record-setting heat, Southern California is getting a bit of a breather this week.
Here is a rundown of what is ahead:
Weekend
While coastal areas will see cooler temperatures this weekend, hot weather and fire conditions are expected to continue in other parts of Southern California through Monday, with some inland, valley and mountain areas seeing high temperatures, low humidity and wind gusts of up to 40 mph.
A heat advisory remains in effect Sunday for the Antelope Valley.
Coming week
The good news is that the heat wave is about to break.
“We’re expecting a cooling trend over the next few days, Tuesday and Wednesday, where temperatures will actually cool to near or slightly below normal as we go back to a June gloom type of pattern,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Next week, beach communities will see cool temperatures and cloudy skies, Sweet said.
“It was like this past week, we forgot about June gloom,” he said. “Now we’re switching back to normal.”
Record heat
Last week’s heat wave that blanketed Southern California has either matched or set new records in some spots. On Thursday, Palm Springs reached 123 degrees, matching the highest maximum temperature record set on three previous occasions: on Aug. 1, 1993; July 28, 1995; and July 29, 1995. Ocotillo Wells — located southeast of Borrego Springs, which reached a record of 118 on Thursday — also hit 123 degrees, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The reading appears to be the second-highest temperature ever recorded in San Diego County.
Thermal, the appropriately named California town just south of Coachella and west of Joshua Tree National Park, also set a record with 118, according to the weather service. Idyllwild reached 96, breaking its 1961 record of 92, and Big Bear set a new record at 88 degrees. Other records from Thursday include Lancaster (111), Palmdale (109), Paso Robles (109) and Sandberg (101).
In a hot week, Palm Spring stood out.
On Thursday, it reached 122 degrees, breaking the previous daily record of 116 for June 17 set in 1961. On Tuesday, it broke the previous daily record of 116, also set in 1961, when it hit 120 degrees. The nights have been warmer than usual, too — in the 80s and 90s overnight — which makes for a remarkable heat wave, said National Weather Service meteorologist Elizabeth Schenk.
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