Residents in Southern California should brace for a significant uptick in temperatures this week, according to forecasts by the National Weather Service San Diego. Inland areas, particularly the mountains, high desert, and inland valleys are expected to experience temperatures ranging from 15 to 20 degrees above average by Thursday and Friday. Coastal areas will be slightly warmer near the coast on Wednesday, but temperatures will still be soaring in the inland regions. The higher temperatures are attributed to high pressure strengthening over the southwest states through Thursday.
Thursday's coastal temperatures are forecasted to hit the 70 to 79-degree range, while western valleys and inland Orange County may see highs from 79 to even 86 degrees, as reported by the NWS San Diego. In the high desert, we're looking at highs of 87 to 91 degrees, with the low desert climbing up to a sweltering 97 to 102 degrees. Meanwhile, the inland valleys could be experiencing temperatures between 83 and 90 degrees, almost reminiscent of a mid-summer's heat.
The warming trend is expected to peak on Thursday and Friday, with lesser warming forecasted for Thursday. "high temperatures for the mountains, high desert, and inland valleys as much as 15 to 20 degrees above average for Thursday and Friday," the National Weather Service stated in their Area Forecast Discussion. A coastal eddy may also develop later in the week, leading to more extensive low cloud coverage from late Friday into Saturday.
Thursday may not just be hot. It could potentially be record-setting. According to the Area Forecast Discussion, "For the next week, the lowest existing high temperature records for Palm Springs are 101 on Thursday and Friday. NBM chances for new high temperature records to be set on those days is 82 percent on Thursday and 97 percent on Friday." There's expected cooling over the weekend, with onshore flow bringing temperatures for inland areas back to around average on Sunday as the marine layer deepens.
