New Year to Waft In on Warm Temperatures

While much of the country is suffering severe winter storms, the San Fernando Valley has been basking in unusually warm weather.

Indeed, on Wednesday the hottest spot in the entire nation was Chatsworth, where the temperature soared to 86.

That was a new record for the San Fernando Valley community, breaking by one degree the previous record for the day, set in 1980. It was about 20 degrees higher than usual for this time of year.

“The heat is coming from down-sloping winds,” said meteorologist Scott Breit of WeatherData, the company that supplies weather information to The Times. “The wind compresses the air, and when you compress air you get heat. It’s basic physics.

“In the meantime, the air mass over Southern California is so dry, there is no moisture to cool it down.”

Temperatures did cool a bit Thursday but should remain warm today, through the weekend and early next week. The highs, Breit said, will likely be in the low 80s in most areas of the Valley.

Unfortunately for gardeners, there is no rain in the forecast, a situation that can be at least partially blamed on La Nina, an atmospheric condition that is the opposite of El Nino. During La Nina, ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific are lower than normal, throwing usual weather patterns off kilter.

“The storms you normally get at this time of year are passing to the north of you,” Breit said.

Even with this heat, December’s average temperature will probably end up being close to normal.

“Remember, before we got these warm temperatures, we had a cold snap,” said meteorologist Bruce Rockwell of the National Weather Service. “It just keeps going back and forth, so we might as well enjoy the sunshine while we have it.”