Southern California is entering its second day of the potentially worst heat wave for March, ever, and temperature records have already begun to fall.
At Bob Hope Airport in Burbank on Monday, the mercury reached 92 degrees, breaking the previous daily record of 91 degrees set in 2004. At Pierce College in Woodland Hills, the daily record of 94 degrees set in 2007 was shattered Monday when it reached 97 degrees.
During this heat wave, “not only are daily temperature records likely to be broken across the region, but even the high temperature records for any day in the entire month of March,” the National Weather Service said in a Tuesday morning forecast.
The unusual early heat wave is heightening concerns about public safety and marks a test of the state’s efforts to combat heat-related deaths in a time of rising temperatures.
The warming temperatures are arriving months earlier than typical and communities have not had time to acclimate, making the early-season heat particularly dangerous, experts say. Climate scientist Daniel Swain described it as “a full-on summer heat wave in March” in a post on X.
After a brief reprieve of high temperatures over the weekend, a strong ridge of high pressure began to build over the region on Monday, bringing a host of warnings from the National Weather Service. Temperatures are expected to peak Tuesday through Friday, with the mercury rising into the 80s along the coast and into the 90s and past the 100-degree mark inland, likely shattering records.
Weak offshore gradients that bring warm desert air to the coast add to the heat, said Robbie Monroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Temperatures on Friday are expected to reach 91 degrees in Santa Barbara, 98 in downtown Los Angeles, 97 in Long Beach, 100 in Canoga Park and Santa Clarita and 103 in Covina.
In Orange County and the Inland Empire, temperatures will rise to 99 degrees in Anaheim, 82 in San Clemente, 105 in San Bernardino, 102 in Riverside and 103 in Hemet by Friday. Typically, temperatures across much of Southern California are in the high 60s or 70s in March, according to the weather service.
“It looks like it’s going to be a historic heat wave,” Monroe said. “This could be the hottest March heat wave we’ve ever had, depending on how it plays out.”
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