Valley’s Spring Temperatures Offer a Preview of Summer

What happened to spring?

It was a toasty 93 degrees in Chatsworth on Tuesday, which may have led some Valley residents to check their calendars and do a double-take. Other high temperatures included 90 degrees in Woodland Hills, 88 degrees in Burbank and Northridge, and 87 degrees in Van Nuys and Newhall.

The air was slightly cooler in the Antelope Valley. The high in Palmdale was 83 degrees and in Lancaster 82, according to the National Weather Service.

Although Tuesday’s high temperatures were unseasonal, they were not record-breaking, said Wes Etheredge, a meteorologist with WeatherData, which provides forecasts for The Times.

The record high of 101 degrees in Burbank was set on the same day in 1981. That day Woodland Hills had a record high of 98 degrees, he said.

The hot temperatures, caused by a ridge of high pressure over the Los Angeles Basin, are expected to continue through today before a low pressure system hovering over the central Pacific Ocean makes its way toward California, Etheredge said.

That weather system is expected to bring cooler air and more clouds, and so weather forecasters are predicting a 30% to 35% chance of showers for Saturday and Sunday.

But while Valley residents this week roast in the premature heat, their brethren on the coast are enjoying cool afternoons with high temperatures in the mid-60s, Etheredge said.

“The marine air acts like an air-conditioning system for the coast,” he said, adding that despite the cool coast, the Valley “heats up like a desert” because the marine air does not make it inland.

“That’s very common in the summertime,” he added.