Unless you've been in a cryogenic deep-sleep for the past few days (which actually sounds nice right now), you may have noticed that it's blisteringly hot in L.A. Power outages were rampant. A fire broke out in Silver Lake. And it's been more than just "hot"; history was made Sunday as temperatures broke more than a score of records across SoCal.
The National Weather Service issued a list of record-breaking temps across the Southland that happened on Sunday. The record-breakers were:
- Burbank (which had a temp of 109, beating the 104 set in 1973)
- Indio (118 to 117 set in 1945)
- Palm Springs (118 to 116 set in 2008)
- Riverside (111 to 107 set in 1922)
- Santa Ana (103 to 95 set in 1973)
- Thermal (119 to 118 set in 2008)
- Chula Vista (93 to 88 set in 1957)
- Escondido (103 to 102 set in 1929)
- Idyllwild (94 to 93 set in 1954)
- Ramona (106 to 102 set in 2008)
- Sandberg (101 to 94 set in 1961)
- Woodland Hills (109, tying previous record set in 2008)
- El Cajon (104 to 94 set in 2001)
The worst isn't even over. Today, the first day of summer, is expected to be the peak of the heat wave. As we've reported, this is a bit unusual even for the month of June. The heat wave is caused by an unusually strong high-pressure system that is uncharacteristic for this time of year. This occurrence is more common in July and August.
The National Weather Service has issued today an excessive heat warning for the Los Angeles area. "Today will be the hottest day with forecast maximum temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees for many non coastal areas," according to the warning.
What should you do to stay safe? Much of it involves common sense; stay out of the sun as much as you can, drink lots of H2O, and wear lightweight clothing. If you plan on being out in the sun, make sure you know what the signs of heat stroke are.
As reported by KTLA, a number of "cooling centers" are open around the Southland to let people rest and stay out of the dangerous heat.
In order to avoid more power outages, residents are advised to set their air conditioning to 78 degrees or higher, and turn off all unnecessary lights and appliances until 9 p.m., according to KTLA.
