Community Corner

Heat Wave Expected to Remain Part of this Week

This is the forecast for Baldwin Park until Friday, according to the National Weather Service: Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

The heat wave gripping the region stretched into a new and potentially perilous week today, with more high-heat records expected amid an uncomfortable onset of high humidity.

"It will remain hot across much of Southwestern California through at least Tuesday,'' the National Weather Service said in an advisory. Along with "record or near-record'' high temperatures, "there will be an increase in moisture, which will result in muggy conditions in some areas.''

In Los Angeles County, an excessive heat warning was scheduled to be in effect in the Santa Clarita Valley until 10 p.m. today and in the Antelope Valley and the San Gabriel Mountains until 9 p.m. Tuesday.

This is the forecast for Baldwin Park until Friday, according to the National Weather Service: 

  • Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
  • Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. West southwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
  • Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
  • Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 68. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight.
  • Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 92. Light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
  • Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 67.
  • Independence Day: Sunny, with a high near 91.
  • Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 67.
  • Friday: Sunny, with a high near 91.
  • Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 65.
 
Forecasters warned of afternoon temperatures of between 104 and 114 Fahrenheit in the Antelope Valley, between 100 and 112 in the Santa Clarita Valley, and between 100 and 108 in the Los Angeles County portion of the San Gabriels below the 4,500-foot level.

"Higher mountain elevations will also see temperatures approach record levels with temperatures well in the 80s and 90s'' and nighttime temperatures dipping only into the 70s and lower 80s, according to an NWS advisory.

In recent days, heat records have been set in the region, including Lancaster, where the high of 115 at Fox Field Sunday represented not just a record for a June 30 but an all-time high, surpassing the 114 degrees recorded on July 18 and 19, 1960, the NWS reported.

The weather service stressed that the prevailing conditions can have perilous health outcomes.

"Children, the elderly and people with chronic ailments are the most susceptible to heat-related illness,'' the NWS warned in an advisory. "Heat exhaustion, cramps, or, in extreme cases, heat stroke can result from prolonged exposure to these conditions.''

The NWS urged area residents to avoid strenuous activity in the heat, including hiking and mountain biking during the warmest part of the day. People who must work outdoors should schedule frequent rest breaks in shaded areas or air-conditioned spaces, it said.

The NWS also reminded motorists never to leave children, the elderly or pets in an enclosed parked vehicle, even with the windows cracked open, because, according to an advisory, "temperatures can quickly rise to life-threatening levels.''
   
A slight cooling is expected Wednesday.

- With information from City News Service

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