County’s Temperatures Inflated by Winds

The blast of Santa Ana-like winds kept Ventura County thermostats climbing Thursday, with the temperatures in downtown Ventura reaching a level not seen in nearly three decades.

It was 90 degrees in that city and blazed even hotter in the county’s valleys. It reached 105 in Simi Valley, four degrees hotter than Wednesday’s record temperature, but not quite hot enough to hit the record book for Thursday. Temperatures hit 104 in Thousand Oaks and a comparatively balmy 92 degrees in Oxnard.

“Santa Paula has felt like Palm Springs the past few days,” said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.

A northeastern wind has created a high-pressure dome over Southern California, bringing the sudden burst of hot weather after a cool summer.

“We’ve had a push and pull between onshore and offshore winds,” Sirard said. “[Warmer] offshore winds have won the last couple of days.”

Winds were only about 10 mph through the valleys, he said.

By evening, temperatures were already starting to cool, Sirard said. By Saturday night or early Sunday, low clouds and fog are expected to reach area valleys, and the region is expected to return to more typically seasonal weather.

The coast’s cool, gray weather of the summer has been caused by a combination of a thick layer of marine air and cooler ocean water.

The high temperatures of the last few days offer some advantages. The intense heat shatters warm-air inversions that trap pollutants and winds sweep pollutants away. That means more clean air for the county, contributing to one of the most smog-free summers in many years.