Elevated temperatures are expected to linger into next week across Southern California, bringing critical fire weather conditions to the region, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service has extended a heat advisory through Tuesday, followed by an extreme heat watch through July 16, as temperatures are forecast to remain several degrees above normal across Central and Southern California.
In Southern California, Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be the warmest days, with highs in the mid-80s along the coasts, the mid-90s to 102 in the valleys, and 105 to 107 in the Antelope Valley, according to the weather service.
Conditions are expected to remain very dry, with humidity in inland areas falling to 5% to 15% through Friday. Brief critical fire weather is expected across “all valleys, mountains and deserts” with “enhanced vertical plume growth potential” on active or new wildfires.
As part of the critical fire weather conditions, sundowner winds are expected Wednesday evening across Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Much of the region will face elevated fire risk even as the chance for monsoonal storms builds over the weekend, the weather service said.
There will be a 10% to 20% chance of monsoonal showers and thunderstorms in Southern California starting as early as Sunday and probably lasting into the following weekend. Most storm activity will remain localized over the mountains and deserts, and there is “a small risk” that storms could reach the valleys and coastal areas, the weather service said.
“We’re looking at a little bit of a cooling trend for the weekend as moisture comes in, because it will bring more clouds,” said Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard. “But it’s also going to bring more moisture, which can make it feel more uncomfortable.”
The critical fire weather conditions loom as crews have already battled several small blazes across Southern and Central California amid above-normal temperatures.
In L.A., several small fires popped up this week but were quickly put out — including in Montecito Heights on Monday, in Encino on Tuesday and a small grass blaze in Harbor City on Wednesday.
One of them, the Volcano fire in Riverside County, grew to more than 100 acres and forced evacuations Tuesday, some of which remained in place Wednesday, although firefighters had begun to gain the upper hand. It was 45% contained as of Wednesday evening.
There were also two fires in San Luis Obispo County this week — the 10-acre Twitchel fire and the 543-acre Bear fire at a solar ranch, which was 80% contained by late Tuesday.
Times staff writer Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this report.
