The last day of winter is going to be scorching in Southern California.
A week-long heat wave across the Southland has broken records, with temperatures 20 to 30 degrees above normal on Thursday, with temperatures reaching triple digits in the valleys and inland, while along the coast they will be in the 80s and 90s.
In terms of heat waves that hit at the end of winter, this has been historic so far.
It’s not only breaking dozens of daily temperature records — locations in L.A. and Ventura counties broke 10 daily temperature records on Wednesday alone — but also breaking the all-time heat record for March.
Palmdale, Lancaster and Paso Robles set new all-time March temperature records on Wednesday, reaching 92, 93 and 95 degrees, respectively. The same happened in Indio and Thermal, where it reached 107 degrees on Wednesday, and Palm Springs, where it reached 105, respectively.
“We’re breaking a lot of records, it’s certainly clear that this is one of our warmest Marches ever,” National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Lewis told The Times Wednesday. “It’s similar to the heat waves we see in the summer.”
Extreme heat warnings for most inland areas – and heat advisories for coastal areas – will remain in place until Friday, with officials urging people to beware of heat-related illness symptoms.
“Dangerously warm temperatures will continue throughout the week,” the National Weather Service’s Oxnard office wrote in its Thursday morning forecast.
Moderate relief is in sight for later this week, however, when forecasters predict the powerful high pressure system will begin to level off, allowing temperatures to gradually drop.
