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Rejoice! The Heat Wave Is Finally Coming To An End
(Photo by Bobby Gibbons via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
As stated in that timeless song, Smooth—man it's a hot one.
The L.A. area has been swamped with sultry weather for about two weeks now. And there'll be no exceptions for Monday, as highs are expected to hit 92 degrees in downtown L.A., and going into the triple digits as you head farther out east (City of Industry is slated to reach 104). As reported at City News Service, a red flag warning is in effect in parts of L.A. County, indicating a high risk of wildfires due to a convergence of high temps, low humidity, and dry vegetation. The warning will be in effect for the San Gabriel Mountains, as well as the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. today.
There's good news, however. After today's heat spell, we'll be dipping back down into more habitable conditions. "We're expecting a cool down starting [Tuesday]. Especially for the L.A. County valleys. We're looking for a 10 degree drop from today to tomorrow. And another 10 degree drop from tomorrow and Wednesday," Tom Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told LAist.
The cooling trend should level out by Wednesday, leaving us with a pre-4th of July weekend that should be more than tolerable. As Fisher informed LAist, going later into this week, we should expect highs in the upper 80s for the Valley, in the 70s by the coast, and an average of approximately 76 in downtown L.A. and surrounding areas.
As for why we'd been getting such a protracted period of heat, Fisher says that it has to do with a common atmospheric occurrence which he describes as a "four corner high pressure center," which, as indicated by its name, happens over the intersecting corners of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. This time around, the high pressure center shifted westward, bringing the heat with it to the southern regions of California and Nevada. According to AccuWeather, Las Vegas will tie its all-time record (in recorded history, that is) of most consecutive days at 110-degree heat with 10 days (Vegas is, indeed, expected to hit 110). At the peak of the heat wave on June 20, Needles, California, hit a whopping 125 degrees, and Vegas was struck with 117 degrees, tying the all-time recorded high that was set back in 2013. On Sunday, Burbank broke its own record by peaking at 111 degrees, shattering the 104 degrees that was set in 1990, reports City News Service. According to Accuweather, this heat wave has produced temperates that were 10 to 20 degrees warmer than what we'd usually experience in mid-to-late June.
Anyway, the heat is finally making an exit (for now). Let's celebrate with some jams:
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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