Daily heat records were broken on Saturday in some desert areas of Southern California amid an ongoing heat wave and drought across the state, weather officials said.
And residents were warned to take precautions against the heat as a ridge of high pressure is expected to send temperatures soaring way past the century mark across the desert areas of Southern California through next week, forecasters said.
Temperatures reached 120 degrees in Palm Springs, which broke a record of 119 in 2012, said the National Weather Service. South in San Diego County, Borrego Springs experienced 117-degree weather, breaking another 2012 record of 116 degrees.
In Lancaster, a 60-year-old record fell with heat reaching 113 degrees, toppling the 1961 record of 112, NWS said. Temperatures in nearby Palmdale hit 112 degrees, replacing the 2003 record of 109 degrees.
Sunday and Monday will carry with it the same intense heat in the high desert and mountain areas, said David Gomberg, meteorologist with the NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard office.
“It’s really not until Tuesday where we start to see a little bit more cooling and gradually cools in the middle of the week,” Gomberg said.
Some mountain areas in Riverside and San Bernardino counties may see some isolated thunderstorms bringing very light precipitation of a hundredth of an inch of rain, said Samantha Connolly, meteorologist with the NWS San Diego office.
Officials added that with the continued heat and gusty wind conditions, mostly in the mountains and deserts, fire risk remains high.
With large wildfires burning throughout the state, mostly in Northern California, authorities project the state is on pace to see more wildfires this year than 2020, which was California’s largest wildfire season on record.
The record-breaking heat also contributes to ongoing drought conditions in the state. Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom asked residents and businesses to voluntarily cut water use by 15% to protect water reserves and to preserve wildlife.
“The realities of climate change are nowhere more apparent than in the increasingly frequent and severe drought challenges we face in the West and their devastating impacts on our communities, businesses and ecosystems,” Newsom said in a statement.
Also Saturday, the NWS in San Diego issued an excessive heat warning through 8 p.m. Monday for areas including the Coachella Valley, the San Gorgonio Pass, Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley.
In the Apple and Lucerne Valleys, dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures of 105 to 112 are expected, the NWS said.
In the Coachella Valley-San Diego County deserts, dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures of 115 to 120 are expected, along with dangerously warm overnight lows between 85 and 94 degrees, the NWS said.
A heat advisory was in place for western San Bernardino and Riverside counties including in San Bernardino, Ontario, Chino, Riverside, Hemet and Temecula. Ontario, for instance, was expected to experience high temperatures Sunday and Monday of 96 degrees.
Another excessive heat warning was issued by the NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard office, covering areas including the Antelope Valley — including Lancaster and Palmdale — where “dangerously hot conditions with temperatures up to 113 degrees are expected.”
A heat advisory was in effect for the LA County mountains and the Santa Clarita Valley, with highs expected from 95 to 105.
City News Service contributed to this story.
Source: Orange County Register
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