Southern California's quintessential summer weather has finally arrived, and along with it excessive heat warnings and heat advisories for large swaths of the region.
After months of persistently overcast skies and cooler conditions, Southern California is set to see its highest temperatures of the year this weekend as an oppressive heat wave blankets much of the state.
An excessive-heat warning has been issued for the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys and other desert areas of Southern California, where temperatures could top out at 108 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, said David Gomberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The warning begins at 11 a.m. Saturday and will lift at 10 p.m. Sunday.
A heat advisory — a notch down from a heat warning — was declared for the mountainous areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, where highs could range from 95 to 105 degrees over the weekend, Gomberg said. The advisory will also lift Sunday night.
"This is the first true heat wave of the season," said Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Officials from San Diego to Shasta County are warning about heat-related illnesses and an increased fire risk as temperatures are expected to soar into the triple digits just in time for Fourth of July celebrations.
Downtown Los Angeles should reach the 80s this weekend for the first time in months, snapping a historic streak of two months without crossing that threshold — the longest on record for May and June. While temperatures began to rise in the Southland on Friday, downtown's high didn't surpass 77 degrees, Thompson said as of Friday afternoon — stretching the record to 61 days.
