The final day of winter in Southern California is going to be a scorcher.
A weeklong heat wave that has shattered records across the Southland will keep temperatures hovering 20 to 30 degrees above normal Thursday, sending temperatures into the triple digits in the valleys and inland while it will be in the 80s and 90s along the coast.
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid to upper 90s in downtown Los Angeles, around 100 degrees in the valleys and around 80 to 85 degrees near the beaches Thursday.
In terms of late winter heat waves, this one so far has been historic.
Not only has it been shattering dozens of daily temperature records — locations in L.A. and Ventura counties broke 10 daily temperature records Wednesday alone — but all-time heat records for March, too.
Palmdale, Lancaster and Paso Robles all set all-time March temperature records Wednesday, reaching 92, 93 and 95 degrees, respectively. So did Indio and Thermal, where it reached 107 degrees on Wednesday and Palm Springs, where it hit 105.
“We’re breaking so many records, it’s definitely pretty clear that it’s one of the warmest Marches we’ve ever had,” National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Lewis told The Times on Wednesday. “It’s more similar to the heat waves we see in the summer.”
An extreme heat warning remains in place for most inland areas — and a heat advisory for coastal regions — through Friday, with officials urging people to be on guard for signs of heat-related illness.
Staying cool in the heat may have been a challenge for hundreds of Southern California Edison customers on Wednesday, after they lost power at 6 a.m. and didn’t have it restored the entire day.
“Dangerously hot temperatures will continue all week,” the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office wrote in its Thursday morning forecast.
Moderate relief is in sight this weekend, however, when forecasters predict the powerful high pressure system will start to flatten out, bringing a gradual drop in temperatures.
The weather is expected to cool by 5 to 10 degrees by Saturday and even more by Sunday, before warming up again on Monday and Tuesday, according to the weather service. It’s expected to be in the 80s and 90s near downtown Los Angeles and in the mid-90s in the valleys next week.
After a wet winter spawned new grass, it could all be drying out faster than usual due to the heat wave, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford. The state has received above-normal rainfall this year so far from a few big storms, but if California doesn’t get additional rain next month, the drier grasses could feed some early-season fires.
“There may be small grass fires if there’s an ignition,” Wofford said. “There’s nothing significant in the short term but if we don’t get precipitation, there could be additional issues as we go into summer.”
There’s also snowmelt in the mountains that could pose an issue to the state’s reservoirs, because they might not get as much water later on in the summer, he said.
