Wednesday saw record-breaking, triple-digit temps in several parts of Southern California. And although the peak of the sweltering heat wave has passed, it probably won’t feel like it — thanks to hanging humidity.
The National Weather Service has forecast potential showers and thunderstorms for Thursday and Friday.
The chances are greatest over L.A. and Ventura counties on Thursday, and over Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties on Friday, according to forecasters.
The thunderstorm potential is driven by moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Iselle, said Carol Ciliberti, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
That moisture is being pulled northward by an upper-level trough — a low-pressure area in the atmosphere — and the resulting instability may produce thunderstorms and showers, she said.
The weather service is forecasting “minimal measurable” rain, or less than a tenth of an inch, she said, meaning there is chance of dry lightning strikes, which could ignite a fire.
That scenario isn’t highly likely, Ciliberti said, but the risk of fire starts is there.
Amid the heat wave, thousands of Southland residents were sporadically without power as outages popped up in different communities.
Power outages affected up to 3,000 residents in Echo Park and Westlake on Wednesday, according to the Eastsider. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesperson Sandra Robles would not confirm that number but said Wednesday evening that about 800 customers in those neighborhoods remained without power, with service expected to be restored around 2 a.m. Thursday.
The cause of the outages is under investigation, and it was not immediately clear if the heat wave played a role, Robles said.
Residents in the Moreno Valley were left sweltering without power during outages on Tuesday amid triple-digit temperatures. A scheduled outage for maintenance in Huntington Park amid extreme heat also prompted frustration among neighbors Tuesday.
Wednesday, which was forecast to be the hottest day of the heat wave, saw record-shattering temperatures across the Southland.
Woodland Hills hit 111 degrees, breaking the previous record of 109 set in 1981, according to the weather service’s preliminary records. Temperatures reached 107 in Lancaster, beating a record of 106 in 1950.
Paso Robles tied its 2017 record of 106 degrees. Downtown Los Angeles reached 98 degrees, tying a record set in 1981, and Santa Barbara Airport reached 86 degrees, tying a record set in 1977.
Coastal areas are typically spared the worst of heat waves, thanks to the cool marine layer and ocean. But that hasn’t been the case this summer. El Niño — the warm phase of a climate pattern — has contributed to warmer coastal waters, and combined with intense inland heat, that has led to warmer coastal temperatures, according to Ciliberti.
Temperatures in Southern California should be a “couple of degrees cooler” over the next few days, and cloud coverage may help, she said.
Don’t expect a dramatic reprieve. The shower chances are also expected to make Southern California even more humid. (The weather service does not track humidity records.) “Even if it’s a couple degrees cooler … with the humidity, it’s really going to be pretty sticky and uncomfortable,” Ciliberti said.
Somewhat cooler temperatures, generally ranging in the 80s to 90s, may be on the horizon for next week, preliminary models show, she noted.
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