Southland To Experience Weather Whiplash, With Fire Weather Followed By Cold Weekend
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Critical fire weather conditions will return to the Southland Wednesday bringing two days of hot, dry weather followed by the first cold days of the season.
"Big swings in the weather this week, going from near normal temps, to much above normal, to well below normal all in the span of about four days," the National Weather Service predicted.
Temperatures are expected to rise to the 90s in many valley areas on Wednesday and Thursday, accompanied by west-to-northwest Santa Ana winds of 20 to 40 mph, with 35- to 55-mph gusts, especially Friday night into Saturday.
The conditions will increase fire danger, prompting the NWS to warn residents to use extreme caution with potential fire sources.
By Friday, a sharp cooling trend will move in and continue through the weekend, even bringing a chance of light showers.
Forecasters said the mountains and eastern L.A. County have the best chances for rain, but it shouldn't be more than a tenth of an inch.
Temperatures will reach highs of 84 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday and 89 on Thursday before dropping to 72 Friday and 66 by Saturday, according to NWS projections.
Temperatures will also drop in Van Nuys and Pasadena with highs of 66 on Saturday. The predicted high in Northridge is 92 on Wednesday and 94 on Thursday, dropping to 74 and 69 Friday and Saturday.
Nighttime lows will begin dropping below 50 degrees across much of L.A. County on Friday and Saturday.
Those living in the Antelope Valley will see highs in the 80s Wednesday and Thursday before temperatures drop into the upper 50s Friday and Saturday. Lows will dip into the 30s beginning Friday.
In Orange County, Anaheim is expected to reach 91 degrees Thursday before dropping to 73 Friday and 64 on Saturday, while the chillier coastal area of Newport Beach will see its high drop all the way to 60 on Saturday.
The NWS said "a very cold upper low will drop south along the West Coast Friday and usher in a much colder air mass that will stick around for the next several days."
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
