After record-breaking heat in the L.A. area, cooler and drizzly weather is around the corner
Don’t let the record-breaking high temperatures over the weekend in the Los Angeles region trick you into thinking spring is giving way to summer-like weather. Cooler temperatures and a chance of April showers return later this week.
Monday will be another warm day, with temperatures soaring near 90 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service. The heat is a continuation from the weekend, when several daily records were broken around Southern California.
Camarillo Airport recorded a high of 89, the highest temperature for the day since 2013, when it was 82 degrees. Oxnard reached a high of 86, compared with a previous high of 82 in 2006. And Los Angeles International Airport reported a high of 87, surpassing a 2016 record of 83. Santa Barbara matched its 2016 record of 79.
Monday also could bring a potential risk for fire hazards, as warm winds are expected to whip through the Los Angeles region, with gusts of 25 to 45 mph.
Although temperatures near the beaches are expected to be milder — with highs in the upper 60s to mid-70s — the water could get rocky, forecasters said. The weather service issued a small-craft advisory through 9 p.m. Monday, and a gale watch will run until Tuesday evening.
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“Then we do transition to a cooler pattern for the rest of the week because we’re getting better sea breeze and more marine layer influence for the rest of the week,” said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Cloud cover will cool the region Monday night, and patchy fog will linger late into Tuesday morning, with temperatures dropping to 74. Tuesday night could bring a slight chance of drizzle, continuing into Wednesday, when temperatures will dip again to an expected high of 68.
A 20% chance of light rain is expected again Wednesday night into Thursday morning, before skies will clear to mostly sunny weather and temperatures in the upper 60s by the of the week.
Sweet said the cooling phenomenon is caused, in part, by the “Catalina eddy” effect — a rotation of winds around Catalina Island that thickens the marine layer and allows it to spin off all the way to the coast.
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