California's heat wave to come 'roaring back' this weekend

Joseph Serna, Los Angeles Times on Oct 3, 2024

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LOS ANGELES — Daily temperature records around California continued to be set this week as an unusual October heat wave broiled the state and stymied firefighters' efforts to get blazes in Southern California under control.

Though the current heat wave peaked on Wednesday, the outlook going into the weekend doesn't bring much relief, according to the National Weather Service. It will cool between 4 and 8 degrees Thursday across the Southland but still remain warmer than average for this time of year.

"Hot temperatures will come roaring back Saturday," the Weather Service's Oxnard office said in a Thursday morning forecast. "This heat wave will not be as severe as the last few days but will still be warm enough to justify the excessive heat watches for the valleys and mountains."

In the last two days, daily heat records have fallen across the state.

On Wednesday, it reached 111 degrees in Woodland Hills, breaking the previous record of 109 degrees set in 1991. At Palmdale Airport, it was 105 degrees, eclipsing the old record of 101 degrees set in 2020. Inland, temperatures reached 110 degrees at Lake Elsinore, breaking its record of 106 degrees set in 2012.

In Central California, Fresno Yosemite International Airport set a daily record Wednesday when it reached 102 degrees, breaking its previous record of 101 set in 1980.

In Northern California, several daily heat records were broken Wednesday, including at Stockton airport where it reached 105, breaking its old record of 101 set in 1952. And in Modesto, it reached 104, breaking the previous record of 99 degrees set in 2012.

Amid the summer-like temperatures, firefighters in Southern California have been working to halt three wildfires that broke out weeks earlier.

Among the most challenging has been the Line fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, where containment peaked at 83% on Sunday before the fire raced out of control and sparked more evacuations as containment dropped. Crews have been working to regain control of the fire, and containment has inched back up to 79% as of Thursday morning. The fire has scorched 43,922 acres.

The other major blazes in the area — the Bridge and the Airport fires — were 98% and 96% contained as of Thursday morning, respectively, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.