It’s time to test out those summer outfits because Mother Nature is turning up the heat in Southern California with possible triple-digit temperatures in some areas next week.
After a chilly start to spring and rain in some locations this week, the mercury will rise rapidly over the weekend bringing summer-like weather to Southern California.
Temperatures will reach the 70s along the coast and 80s farther inland by Sunday in Los Angeles County. After a very slight cool down on Monday, more toasty temperatures are on tap for the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service.
By Wednesday, it’s expected to be in the 80s along the coast and into the 90s in the valleys. Some locations in the San Fernando Valley could break the 100-degree mark and possibly topple daily heat records, said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
“These temperatures are about 12 to 18 degrees above normal,” Schoenfeld said. “We do have temperature variations at different points, but this is a little bit atypical.”
Scattered showers that hit on Thursday could be the last bout of precipitation the region sees for a while. The system brought less than a tenth of an inch to downtown Los Angeles and a third of an inch to the California State University Northridge campus, according to the weather service.
Without more precipitation in the forecast, parts of Southern California could end the wet season in a deficit. Downtown L.A. has received 7.87 inches of rain since the water year began Oct. 1. The average for this point in the season is 13.13 inches and the annual average is 14.25 inches.
“Through the next 10 days or so there’s no specific chance for rain,” Schoenfeld said. “And then after that, we’re really not in the rainy season anymore. So long story short, it’s not looking good for any more chances of rain.”
Despite a drier than normal winter in some parts of the state, California is enjoying a plush snowpack. The state is expected to record a third straight year of ample water supplies in the mountains, which hasn’t happened in a quarter of a century.
The statewide snowpack was 101% of average as of Friday. The snowpack measured 122% of average in the northern Sierra Nevada, 97% of average in the central Sierra and 86% of average in the southern Sierra.
