Southern California braced Monday for a heat wave that is expected to bring triple-digit temperatures across much of the region this week.
Due to weak offshore winds and a heat dome over the southwestern U.S., temperatures are expected to rise throughout the week before peaking on Thursday and Friday. Parts of the Los Angeles Basin could reach 46 degrees by the weekend, while the mercury could climb to 47 degrees in the Coachella Valley.
“We are already in the hottest time of the year climatically, and temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees above normal are expected almost everywhere, from the beach to the desert,” said meteorologist Ryan Kittell of the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office.
Many communities were already experiencing scorching temperatures on Labor Day: temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius were expected in the San Gabriel Valley and up to 40 degrees Celsius in the western San Fernando Valley. In LA’s districts closer to the water, comparatively more moderate temperatures of between 27 and almost 35 degrees Celsius were expected.
Woodland Hills, traditionally the hottest spot in LA, was expected to see temperatures as high as 109 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday and 114 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, before dropping slightly to 119 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday.
In Santa Clarita, temperatures should rise from an uncomfortable 95 degrees on Monday to a stifling 105 degrees on Thursday. In Palm Springs, Labor Day temperatures should rise from 105 to 109 degrees to give way to 110 to 112 degrees on Thursday.
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said the summer of 2024 will likely go down in history as the hottest or second hottest on record, even though most Californians would have experienced it differently.
“The most densely populated parts of Ventura, LA, Orange County and San Diego – actually all counties west of the mountains – experienced a summer that was right in the middle of historical distributions,” Swain said.
Temperatures inland made up for that, Swain said. He noted that the difference between a record-breaking summer and a non-remarkable one could be as little as 30 miles. Places like Palmdale and Palm Springs “are very hot places that still had record temperatures.”
“If you’ve lived on Ocean Beach in San Francisco or Santa Monica, you haven’t had this experience,” he said.
Although summer is the hottest time of year inland, the highest temperatures along the California coast typically occur in September or October, as this week’s heat wave shows.
“This week will probably be the hottest week of the entire summer in LA,” Swain said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Monday afternoon that the city would open cooling centers across the city and that there would be “climate stations” on Skid Row where people could get cold drinks and rest in the shade. City officials also said the Department of Water and Power was working to reduce the risk of power outages and that it had teams ready to respond in the event of a blackout.
Dangerously hot weather prevailed across much of the country, including Nevada and Arizona. Kittell, of the weather service in Oxnard, said desert areas are getting less sun because days are shorter than in June and July, so there is less temperature difference between them and coastal communities.
He said people who live near the beach and don’t have air conditioning may not be prepared for the heat.
“Make plans now to stay cool,” Kittell said.
Temperatures will drop slightly over the weekend, but it is unclear when the heatwave will subside.
As uncomfortable as this week’s heat may be, it is not expected to break any records. The record for the first week of September was set in 2020, when temperatures in Woodland Hills reached 121 degrees.
Writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.
