Extreme California weather: Heat, floods and thunderstorms
Frank Kaiser of Lawndale relaxes among the beach volleyball courts in Manhattan Beach on Aug. 28.
California is in store for extreme weather this week, with excessive heat advisories expected to last into the weekend while deadly riptides, flash floods and thunderstorms could bring their own hazards to the state.
In Southern California’s valleys and deserts, temperatures are forecast to climb up to 105 degrees, prompting an excessive heat warning that will last until Saturday, said Andrew Rorke, a National Weather Service senior forecaster.
But the Santa Ana winds that usually come in September aren’t around this week, Rorke said, producing a kind of baking effect across the region that will continue at night. There will be little to no wind, and unusually warm ocean temperatures aren’t allowing the air to cool as much so there won’t be any relief after the sun goes down, he said. Temperatures will dip only into the 70s, he said.
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Inland, meanwhile, it’s not just the heat that residents have to worry about. Monsoonal moisture flowing north from west of Baja could bring a heavy dose of rain, sparking warnings that flash floods and thunderstorms could be possible over the next three or four days in the Riverside and San Bernardino county mountains, forecasters say.
Temperatures could hover in the 90s at the coast, which is excessively warm for the beaches, Rorke said. Riptides continue to swirl along the shoreline, making it dangerous to go in the water.
But the extreme weather isn’t just a Southern California issue this week.
In the northern half of the state, triple-digit temperatures with low humidity are prompting warnings of an elevated fire danger in state and national forests. Temperatures could climb to 108 degrees in Lake County, which has been battered by several wildfires this year.
In the San Francisco area, temperatures could top out in the 90s downtown and 105 degrees farther inland, the National Weather Service said.
For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.
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