Southern California’s prolonged hea twave is finally forecast to begin letting up Wednesday, but elevated temperatures will continue to bring health and fire risks Monday and Tuesday.
A cooling trend is expected to slowly fall into place Wednesday after a week of scorching temperatures that baked the Southland’s interior and fueled several fast-growing wildfires.
“Wednesday will be a little cooler and then we’ll see a cooling trend into Thursday… and the weekend,” said Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “We’re looking at relatively cool temperatures into next week.”
While the cooldown is forecast to drop temperatures 10 to 15 degrees from peak highs, Lewis said temperatures will remain warm likely through at least September.
But until that slight cooldown, much of the region remains under heat warnings and advisories which officials say will continue to create elevated fire conditions.
The Antelope Valley and surrounding foothills are under an extreme heat warning for Monday and Tuesday, with highs forecast to reach up to 110 degrees and remain in the 80s at night, according to the National Weather Service. The Mojave Desert has also been issued an extreme heat warning, with temperatures expected to reach 110, hitting as high as 122 degrees in Death Valley.
Heat advisories were also issued for much of Southern California’s inland and mountainous areas, with highs reaching into the 90s or triple digits, including across the San Gabriel Mountains, the Inland Empire and the San Bernardino and Santa Barbara county mountains. Much of the Central Valley is also under a heat advisory, with highs expected around 105.
While most of Los Angeles County isn’t under a heat advisory, highs will still be above-average on Monday and Tuesday, expected to hit 90 degrees Monday in downtown L.A. However, coastal areas will be relatively unaffected due to a strong marine layer.
The heat will continue to dry out an already-parched landscape, which Lewis said will keep the threat of wildfires elevated even without a forecast of major winds.
“Anytime you have these warm temps, especially prolonged, [fire weather] is still definitely concern,” Lewis said.
Firefighters, however, have been able to make great progress on the Canyon fire, which broke out in eastern Ventura County during the start of the heat wave last week. The 5,370-acre blaze was 91% contained as of Monday and all evacuation warnings had been lifted. Two homes were destroyed in the fire, as were seven smaller sheds or outbuildings, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
But farther north, officials remained concerned about the Gifford fire, which is burning across northern Santa Barbara County and southern San Luis Obispo County. Since it ignited Aug. 1, the fire has charred nearly 120,000 acres as of Monday, becoming the state’s largest blaze of the year.
While the Gifford fire is burning primarily across wilderness areas, U.S. Forest Service officials said the continued high temperatures will keep conditions challenging. It was 33% contained as of Monday, and widespread evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect.
The cause of both fires remains under investigation.
