Southern Californians to see a heat spike this week followed by significant cool-down

A storm coming this weekend will make it start to feel like fall in Southern California, but not until after a brief heat wave moves through the region.

Temperatures for many parts of the Inland Empire, Los Angeles and Orange counties will peak on Thursday, and mostly be in the 80s and 90s, National Weather Service meteorologists said Wednesday. A significant cool-down will follow on Friday. Starting Saturday, many areas will be even colder and could see some rain through the weekend, and possibly snow in the mountains.

“We saw a little bit of a preview (Wednesday) with the warm-up, probably closer to 90 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, 80 at the beaches and mid-90s in the valleys,” said Mike Wofford, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “Then we have a big cool-down coming quickly on Friday, probably closer to 70s.”

Van Nuys’ high temperature on Thursday could reach up to 92 to degrees, then 72 on Friday and 64 degrees on Saturday. Long Beach’s projected high on Thursday was 85 degrees, 68 on Friday and 63 on Saturday.

The higher chances for rain in Los Angeles County will be on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, with possibly up to a quarter-inch of rain, Wofford said. There could be snow in the local mountains at elevations at around 5,000 feet and above, he said.

In Orange County and the Inland Empire, there could be possibly up to half an inch of rain over the weekend, weather service meteorologist Casey Oswant said. Temperatures for those areas will largely be in the low 60s, she said.

Riverside’s high temperature on Thursday is expected to reach 93 degrees, then dropping to 79 on Friday and then 60 degrees for Saturday and Sunday. Santa Ana was expected to reach 90 degrees on Thursday, 72 on Friday and then 64 over the weekend.

The storm, which is coming from the Alaska area, is why temperatures will drop so significantly, Oswant said.

In the mountains, temperatures will drop to the 30s in the mountains.

“For the snow, it does look like the Big Bear and San Bernardino mountain area will get some snow,” Oswant said. “Right now for that area, it looks like there’s potential of 5 to 8 inches possible in the Big Bear area.”

Areas at lower elevations, such as Crestline and Lake Arrowhead, are more likely to see around 2 inches of snow, she said.

Source: Orange County Register