Hot Spell Sticking Around for Third Day in Westwood

WESTWOOD, CA - Southland temperatures will remain above normal for a third straight day Friday, as high surf and strong rip currents create perilous conditions along the Los Angeles and Orange county coasts.

Friday's temperatures are forecast to be several degrees higher than was expected on Thursday. The high in downtown Los Angeles, for instance, is now forecast to be 82 degrees Fahrenheit, not 77, and Burbank should reach 88, not 82.

Temperatures had been expected to be between 2 and 4 degrees above the average Friday. But National Weather Service Dave Bruno said in a telephone interview from his monitoring station in Oxnard that the latest forecast call for temperatures to be 10-15 degrees above normal in the valleys and 6-10 degrees above normal in the L.A. County coastal zone, which includes beach cities, metropolitan L.A. and the Hollywood Hills.

He said, by way of explaining the higher forecast, that warm offshore winds may be lingering longer than had been anticipated.

Along the Los Angeles County coast, a beach hazard statement, which is slightly less serious than a high surf advisory, will be in effect tonight, with forecasters expecting surf of 3-6 feet accompanied by strong rip currents, an NWS statement said. Along the Orange County Coast, the beach hazard statement will be in effect through Monday afternoon.

Partly cloudy skies were forecast in L.A. County Friday, along with highs of 76 in Avalon; 79 at LAX and in Palmdale; 80 on Mount Wilson; 81 in Long Beach; 82 in San Gabriel; 84 in Pasadena; 88 in Burbank and Saugus; and 91 in Woodland Hills.

Southland temperatures will dip Sunday and Monday but begin ramping up again beginning Tuesday.

- City News Service / Image via Shutterstock