Summer isn’t over yet in Southern California. Another sweltering heat wave is hitting this week as temperatures reach triple digits in time for Labor Day weekend, experts predict.
“It’s going to be hot in most areas by Wednesday [Aug. 31],” Brandt Maxwell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego, told The Epoch Times.
Temperatures could rise to 105 degrees in the inland areas of Orange County and 110 in the valleys of Los Angeles County starting Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to get even higher this weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather agency issued excessive heat watches Aug. 29 for Wednesday through Sunday evening in Los Angeles County and Tuesday through Sunday in Orange County.
A strong high-pressure weather system that extends from California to Utah is ushering in the high temperatures, which could stick around into next week, according to Maxwell.
“This high-pressure area aloft is farther west than it normally would be,” he said. “It’s going to bring hotter weather to California as a whole.”
In Los Angeles County, the San Fernando Valley areas could reach a high temperature of 102 degrees by Wednesday and 104 by Thursday.
Riverside could reach a high of 100 degrees Tuesday, climbing to 105 by Thursday, while in Santa Ana, Orange County, temperatures could be slightly lower, reaching a high of 93 degrees by Wednesday.
Coastal temperatures are also expected to reach into the 90s, even just a few miles off the coast. A fairly weak sea breeze won’t be able to cool down cities more than 10 miles from the beaches, Maxwell said.
Starting Sept. 6, the thermometer may begin to drop slightly in some areas across the state, but the heat wave could continue for a week or longer, according to the agency.
“There’s a change that could come down starting around Tuesday of next week, but it’s not certain at this point,” Maxwell said. “The high [pressure] is pretty strong, and it could linger for a while. This will definitely be a prolonged heat wave.”
