Baking hot temperatures are forecast to grip the Inland Empire for the remainder of the week and into the start of next week.
The intensifying heat prompted the National Weather Service Wednesday to revise heat warnings and remind residents to take precautions while outdoors.
The agency said that triple-digit daytime heat will be the norm throughout the region for at least the next several days. A Heat Advisory previously issued for the Riverside metropolitan area and the Anza and San Jacinto valleys was changed to an Extreme Heat Warning, which remained in effect and will continue until 8 p.m. Monday.
The prior Extreme Heat Warning posted for the Coachella Valley has not changed, also in effect until Monday evening.
“High temperatures on Thursday and Friday will be around 10 degrees above average for inland areas, with highs ranging from the upper 90s to 110 for the Inland Empire, with 112 to 118 for the lower deserts,” the NWS said in a statement. “Heat-related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat events. Drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms and stay out of the sun.”
Ridges of high pressure settling to the north and east will influence weather patterns into early next week, ratcheting up dry conditions. However, fetches of moisture may also drag into the region due to monsoonal activity in Baja Mexico, generating instability and isolated thunderstorms in and around mountainous areas of the San Gorgonio Pass and lower Coachella Valley, according to prognostication charts.
The only strong chance for precipitation is Friday, forecasters said.
The Weather Service said the high heat will more than probably return next week. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration recently declared that an El Nino has developed in the Pacific, and it’s intensifying, raising sea temperatures well above average.
It has been attributed to the birth of Hurricane Fausto, currently tracking toward Hawaii as a category 2 cyclone.
For Palm Springs, Indio, Rancho Mirage and adjacent spots, daytime highs will climb to at or above 115 for the remainder of the week. Lows will be in the low 90s until Sunday, the NWS said.
In the Riverside metropolitan area, temps will be in the low 100s until next Monday. Lows will generally settle in the low to mid 70s now through the weekend.
In the Temecula Valley, highs will rises into the upper 90s over the next few days. Lows will fall into the upper 60s each night, forecasters said.