Humidity, extreme heat create dangerous conditions in Southern California
After several days of unusual weather and humidity, Southern California is still bracing for even more heat as triple-digit temperatures are expected to affect the region.
Weather officials say Wednesday and Thursday will feature "very dangerous" conditions, including max temperatures in the upper 80s at the beaches, 90s across the rest of the coast, and up to 118 degrees in the valleys.
The National Weather Service says the major concern for the weather event will be the elevated humidity, which will be much higher than normal.
"This extra humidity will make the temps feel much worse and will lessen the body's cooling abilities," the NWS says.
The strong humidity will also cause overnight lows to be much warmer. Weather officials say this will likely make heat recovery difficult for people without air conditioning.
"People aren't used to this degree of humidity, where it's almost like being on the Gulf Coast or in Florida," said Dr. Gabriel Campion with Dignity Health Northridge.
Extreme heat warnings will be in effect through Thursday for much of the region. Weather officials emphasize that the added humidity will "really make this heat event much more dangerous than previous ones."
Campion said emergency rooms have seen more heat-related illnesses.
"When people get heat stroke, that can be life-threatening," he said. "Sometimes we're able to get people through just IV fluids, but sometimes we have to put ice packs on them too and try to cool them off quite quickly."
Residents are encouraged to limit outdoor activities, take breaks and stay in air-conditioned rooms.
Max temperature forecasts for Wednesday:
- Downtown Los Angeles: 102
- Santa Monica: 90
- Downey: 103
- La Habra: 105
- Corona: 106
- Huntington Beach: 88
- Long Beach: 95
- Thousand Oaks: 101
Remnants of Hurricane Marie continue to impact the coast with elevated surf and flooding. Several homes in Dana Point, Malibu and Long Beach have been red-tagged due to damage caused by coastal erosion and rough waters.
There is a possibility of isolated showers and thunderstorms on Wednesday, mainly over the mountain areas.
Cooler and more normal conditions are expected to return by Saturday.
