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'It's Gorgeous': Record Highs Hit Southern California

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The dry start to 2020 has some concerned about drought conditions for the state and Thursday's record high temperatures continued to deepen those concerns.

"So today is technically going to be a high fire danger," Jacob Raabe, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said. "Again, that's based on our relative humidity and our wind and temperature, but it's something that we're prepared for."

According to the National Weather Service, Camarillo reached a high of 87 degrees, tying the record from 1932 while downtown Los Angeles tied a 1992 record, topping out at 86 degrees. The University of California Los Angeles also tied its 1992 record, coming in at 83 degrees.

"It's gorgeous," Lynette Storlie, a tourist visiting from Wisconsin with her husband Merle, said. "We've had a lot of below-0, very freezing, a lot of snow. This is like our summer, early summer, weather. It's perfect."

For a number of tourists, the warm temperatures were a welcome respite from the weather back home.

"Of course it's nice, Mara Cattaneo, a tourist, said. "I live in London, so it's amazing, but I don't think it's very normal.

Temperatures at Los Angeles International Airport topped out at 85 degrees, beating the record set in 1992, and Long Beach Airport also beat its 1992 record with a reading of 84 degrees, according to the NWS.

With the average February high for the area toping out at 69 degrees, it made for the perfect unexpected beach day.

"It's been a little bit warm the past few days, maybe about 11 o'clock is when you start feeling it really heat up," Lourdes Sanchez, a Santa Ana resident, said. "Today was kind of unplanned, but it started feeling really warm, so we decided to come out."

But with the unusually warm and dry conditions continuing, experts say the state is headed toward drought conditions.

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