Temperatures along the Southern California coast soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit early Friday, creating unbearable conditions after midnight, as officials warned the extreme heat would last through the weekend.
Nighttime temperatures, ranging from the 80s to the 100s, spanned coastal Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to the National Weather Service.
Brian Lewis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard, Calif., said in a phone interview that such high temperatures occur at night in the area about once a year.
“We’re not seeing a ton of release overnight,” he said, adding that temperatures elsewhere in the region remained high early Friday, with more populated areas staying in the high 70s and low 80s. “It’s quite worrying.”
Extreme heat warnings and heat advisories were in effect for the region and other parts of the West early Friday morning. more than ” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>31 million people Parts of Arizona, California, Nevada and Oregon were under extreme heat warnings, according to the National Weather Service.
Nighttime temperatures followed a day of record highs during a week-long heat wave. Burbank Airport reached 114 degrees Thursday, tying records set once in July 2018 and twice in September 2020. National Weather Service said.
Phoenix made his mark 100th day in a row Temperatures of at least 100 degrees Wednesday. In Los Angeles, temperatures can reach 117 degrees on Friday.
Mr. Lewis said the persistence of nighttime heat near Santa Barbara was due to a lack of sea breezes, winds from the west that normally bring cooler sea air in, acting as a natural air-conditioner. Due to a high pressure system over land, dry, warm storms are blown out to sea from inland.
That weather phenomenon is called a “sundowner” wind in the Santa Barbara County area, named after the time of day when it occurs.
The fact that it’s hot at night is especially dangerous for people without air conditioning, Mr. Lewis said, urging people to drink more water than they should and to keep ice packs on their necks to avoid overheating.
“Right now, it’s nighttime,” he said, “so we can’t really say: ‘Stay out of the sun’.”
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