At least seven different Southern California temperature records had either been tied or broken by mid-afternoon Friday, as a scorching heat wave settled over the region.
National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sirard told LAist that heat records for this day of the year—including one that was 25 years old—were broken in Oxnard, Woodland Hills and Camarillo. A heat record was also broken in Palm Springs, according to the National Weather Service's San Diego office. Temperatures in Woodland Hills reached 109 degrees, a degree above the 2006 record of 108 degrees. Camarillo hit 85 degrees, edging out the 2011 record by a degree, and Oxnard reached 87 degrees, three degrees above the 1992 record of 84 degrees.
Temperatures in Palm Springs reached a staggering 122 degrees, shattering the 1976 record by five degrees.
Closer afield in downtown Los Angeles, a more than sixty-year-old heat record was tied when the mercury hit 96 degrees. (The last time downtown was this hot on July 7 was in 1954!) Out in the high desert, Lancaster reached 110 degrees, tying a record set in 1989. According to Sirard, it's possible that temperatures in Lancaster might edge up even higher by the end of the day, potentially breaking that record. A record was also tied in the Sandberg area of the Antelope Valley (98 degrees, last reached in 1989).
"Some of the numbers may go up," Sirard said, given that he was speaking at around 3:30 p.m. "Palmdale is up to 109 degrees as of 3 p.m., and the record there is 110 degrees," he said, adding that he expected Palmdale to ultimately reach that record, though it wasn't official yet.
There is also the potential for a slew of records to be broken Saturday across the Southland, including a 131 year-old record (!) for downtown Los Angeles, where temperatures are expected to hit 96 degrees again, which would best the 1886 record of 95 degrees. "That would be significant, climatologically, to beat a record that's so old, Sirard said of the possibility.
"There could be some record highs [on Saturday]. There could be some flirting with records. It's going to be close," Sirard said. But there is relief in sight: according to Sirard, Saturday will be the last of the "super hot days."
"It looks like it's going to be cooling off for Sunday, though still warm," the meteorologist said.
