What to expect: Expect another day of warm weather with highs in the 90s inland, 70s/80s along the coast.
Watches/warnings/advisories: A heat advisory for the Inland Empire is still in effect until Thursday night. A dense fog advisory is out for the coastal areas until 9 a.m. today.
This morning you'll see a fog covering most of Southern California, especially closer to the coasts and lower valleys (for a split second I thought I woke up in the sci-fi horror film The Mist). But after mid morning, the fog will dissipate, making way for another very warm day.
On the coast, it'll be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 70s, up to 83 in Long Beach, and up to 79 in Huntington Beach.
In downtown Los Angeles, highs will be in the upper 80s, in the mid to upper 90s in the valleys. In Orange County inland areas, temperatures will reach up to 90.
In Riverside and San Bernardino counties, temperatures are still much warmer, with highs up to 99.
In the high desert, temperatures have jumped to 91 and in the low desert, Coachella Valley will see a high of 102.
Tonight's lows throughout most of Southern California will be in the mid- to upper 60s. Deserts will see temperatures tonight reaching 70 degrees.
Taking a look ahead: Tomorrow is still on track to be the warmest day of the week.
There's a dense fog advisory out for these areas until 9 a.m. today:
Heat advisories are still in effect for the Inland Empire which includes San Bernardino and Riverside County valleys until 8 p.m. Thursday.
On this day in 2015, thunderstorms dropped in Death Valley, bringing major flash flooding and damaging the visitor center at Scotty's Castle.
Spend your Wednesday with Janelle Monáe!
Check out our full list of things to do this week.
Topline:
A slow leak from a chemical tank smeared an orange cloud across the sky of a Southern California neighborhood on Tuesday, but authorities said they quickly got it under control.
Why it matters: Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said authorities responded to a La Habra business that makes cleaning products after receiving a call shortly before noon about the cloud. Police evacuated a nearby middle school as a precaution, Katon said.
The chemical: They do not yet know what the chemical was, but all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, Katon said.
What's next: The regional air quality management district has deployed staff to the area to investigate, said Connie Villanueva, a spokesperson for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
A slow leak from a chemical tank smeared an orange cloud across the sky of a Southern California neighborhood on Tuesday, but authorities said they quickly got it under control.
Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Aaron Katon said authorities responded to a business that makes cleaning products after receiving a call shortly before noon about the cloud. Police evacuated a nearby middle school as a precaution, Katon said.
They do not yet know what the chemical was, but all shelter-in-place orders have been lifted, he said. The regional air quality management district has deployed staff to the area to investigate, said Connie Villanueva, a spokesperson for the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The company, Shepard Bros., could not immediately be reached for comment.
Three company employees reported minor respiratory irritation and declined further treatment, Katon said.
The leak occurred in the city of La Habra near a mix of residential neighborhoods and industrial warehouses about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Anaheim.
Keary Godinez, who works in a nearby restaurant, said she saw what appeared to be a dark yellow cloud spread across the sky. The 20-year-old said she watched students across the street board buses to evacuate, but police told her the eatery could remain open.
“It looked like pollen dust,” Godinez said, adding she didn’t detect a smell from the cloud. “It just kind of smeared in the sky and started going away.”
La Habra Mayor Jose Medrano had urged residents to shelter in place and said some streets were being evacuated.
Luis Gomez, who manages a nearby pickleball program, said earlier Tuesday he saw the cloud, called police and was told anyone within a mile radius of the location was under an evacuation order.
Topline:
The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their downtown arena next year. The Lakers announced the plan Tuesday to honor Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championships and seven NBA Finals appearances during two stints totaling 11 seasons as their head coach.
The backstory: After his famed tenure leading Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six championships, Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999 and immediately began another era of major success for the 17-time NBA champion franchise. His first three teams in Los Angeles won championships behind the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers added two more titles in 2009 and 2010 led by Bryant and Pau Gasol. His Lakers also made the NBA Finals in 2004 and 2008.
What's next: The statue will be unveiled April 9 before the Lakers’ home game against Minnesota.
The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their downtown arena next year.
The Lakers announced the plan Tuesday to honor Jackson, who led the Lakers to five championships and seven NBA Finals appearances during two stints totaling 11 seasons as their head coach.
The statue will be unveiled April 9 before the Lakers’ home game against Minnesota.
After his famed tenure leading Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six championships, Jackson joined the Lakers in 1999 and immediately began another era of major success for the 17-time NBA champion franchise.
His first three teams in Los Angeles won championships behind the dynamic duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers added two more titles in 2009 and 2010 led by Bryant and Pau Gasol. His Lakers also made the NBA Finals in 2004 and 2008.
Jackson set the Lakers franchise record for coaches with 610 victories while leading his teams to the playoffs in every year of his tenure, which ended in 2011.
“Phil Jackson defines championship basketball for a reason,” Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said in a statement. “His masterful approach to coaching brought out the best in some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. After he accepted my dad’s invitation to join the Lakers, Phil’s unmatched creativity and commitment to excellence restored our championship legacy, bringing five titles and setting a standard of excellence for generations to come. It is a great joy to be able to mark that achievement with the statue he so richly deserves.”
Jackson will be the ninth person associated with the Lakers to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside their arena. He joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bryant, O’Neal, broadcaster Chick Hearn and former coach Pat Riley, whose statue was unveiled earlier this year.
Jackson’s 11 championships as a head coach are the most in NBA history. The North Dakota native and former New York Knicks forward is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Topline:
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for much of Southern California from Wednesday morning through Thursday.
The details: This week’s combination of heat and humidity could be worse than it has been all summer. Forecasters say temperatures will peak on Wednesday. Highs could get up to the triple digits. Overnight lows will also stay elevated. They may only get down to the 70s in places, offering little relief from the heat.
The humidity: Climate experts say the humidity this week could be some of the highest on record in Southern California, even after a summer marked by repeated humid heatwaves. The moisture in the air, combined with the extreme heat, makes it increasingly difficult for the human body to cool down, especially when outdoors. It’s also driving scattered rain and thunderstorms that will continue for the next few days.
The backstory: The tropical moisture is due in large part to the leftovers of Hurricane Marie hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean. On top of that, record high ocean temperatures off the Southern California coast are adding to the humidity.
Topline:
An O.C. Superior Court judge increased the economic penalties for Orange County Board of Education member Marilyn “Mari” Barke for failing to report millions of dollars in economic disclosure filings. She will now have to pay more than $100,000 in penalties, according to court documents.
Why it matters: Barke was elected in 2018 to the Orange County Board of Education, which oversees and approves the county’s education budget that serves around 450,000 students.
Background: In 2024, the Fair Political Practices Commission found Barke liable for failing to correctly report income, resulting in a $3,200 penalty. But a judge in July said the FPPC’s settlement didn’t fully address Barke’s actions.
What are the penalties? Barke will have to pay $101,800 in penalties, as well as attorney fees, for incorrectly filling out economic disclosure statements and for failure to correct amended statements. She will be credited the $3,200 paid to the FPPC. Barke’s lawyer did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.
What changed? Orange County Superior Court Judge H. Shaina Colover handed the decision on Sept. 3. Colover said in a final statement on the decision that “substantial civil damages are warranted” to enforce the Political Reform Act and prevent future violations.
Officials say: The complaint was filed by Lynne Riddle, a retired judge. Riddle’s lawyers said in a statement to LAist that the court’s ruling is a “landmark” outcome for public trust and that the high penalty fees show how serious the offenses were. “We hope this result reminds every public official in California that transparency is not optional, and that the public has both the right to know and the tools to hold them accountable when transparency is ignored,” Riddle’s legal team said.
