California’s daily heat records continued to be set this week as an unusual October heat wave ravaged the state and hampered firefighters’ efforts to bring the Southern California blaze under control.
Although the current heat wave peaked Wednesday, the outlook for the weekend doesn’t bring much relief, according to the National Weather Service. It will be between 4 and 8 degrees on Thursday across the Southland but still warmer than average for this time of year.
“Hot temperatures will return Saturday,” the Weather Service Oxnard office said in a Thursday morning forecast. “This heat won’t be as severe as the last few days but it will still be warm enough to justify overheating the valleys and mountains.”
In the past two days, daily temperature records have fallen across the region.
On Wednesday, it reached 111 degrees in Woodland Hills, breaking the previous record of 109 degrees set in 1991. At Palmdale Airport, it was 105 degrees, surpassing the old record of 101 degrees set in 2020. Inland, temperatures reached 110 degrees in Lake Elsinore, breaking its record of 106 degrees set in 2012.
In Central California, Fresno Yosemite International Airport set a daily record Wednesday when it reached 102 degrees, breaking its previous record of 101 degrees set in 1980.
In Northern California, several daily temperature records were broken on Wednesday, including the Stockton airport where it reached 105, breaking its old record of 101 set in 1952. And in Modesto, it reached 104, breaking the previous record of 99 degrees set in 2012.
Amid summer-like temperatures, firefighters in Southern California have been working to contain three wildfires that have broken out in recent weeks.
Among the biggest challenges has been the raging fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, where capacity reached 83% on Sunday before the blaze spiraled out of control and prompted mass evacuations as things subsided. Crews were working to get the fire under control, and containment was at 79% as of Thursday morning. The fire has burned 43,922 hectares.
The other major blazes in the area — the bridge and Airport fires — were 98% and 96% contained as of Thursday morning, respectively, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
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