Winter is officially behind us and, apparently, so are the cool temperatures as the National Weather Service is forecasting a “significant warmup” in the coming days with temperatures climbing into the 90s by Monday.
The above-average temperatures kicked off Friday — the second day of the spring season — with highs expected to peak early next week.
“For people that like the warm temps, it will be pretty welcome,” said Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “It will certainly be the warmest of this month.”
Highs in downtown Los Angeles could reach 86 degrees or higher on Monday, Lewis said. Highs this time of year are typically in the low 70s.
In some nearby coastal valleys, highs could be 20 degrees above average for this time of year, peaking in the low 90s, Lewis said. Temperatures in the Inland Empire and some deserts, such as Riverside and Palm Springs, also have a good chance of climbing into the 90s on Monday.
The rest of the region could see highs in the 70s and 80s — still several degrees above average for this time of year, Lewis said.
A ridge of high pressure expected to settle over the region is driving the high temperatures, Lewis said.
“We’re also going to have some northerly winds through the next several days, which will bring some of that drier, warmer air,” he said, though he noted they are not Santa Anas. “That will help compound some of that heating.”
But by Wednesday, temperatures will begin to fall again — but not too dramatically.
“It will start to cool down toward the middle to end of the week,” Lewis said. “It will get back down close to normal, if not stay a little bit above.”
