Santa Maria hit the century mark — and broke a heat record — Monday, as the Central Coast weathered through above-normal temperatures that were expected to last another couple of days.
The mercury topped out at 100 degrees in Santa Maria, eclipsing the record of 95 for Oct. 1 set back in 1980, said Scott Sukup, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.
Cities around Santa Barbara County saw temperatures jump into the 80s, 90s and even the 100s in the Santa Ynez Valley. Santa Maria was the only city to break a record.
Weak, offshore winds are causing the hotter days and increased risk of wildfires.
Santa Barbara’s high of 86 degrees fell short of the record 92, set in 1965, Sukup said.
Lompoc registered at 91 degrees and the Santa Ynez Valley got as hot as 106 degrees, both out of record range.
Temperatures will be slightly cooler Tuesday, Sukup said, with a cooling trend the rest of the week.
“It’ll still be pretty hot, but it’ll be a couple degrees cooler,” he said. “Wednesday will still be above normal.”
Santa Maria’s Tuesday forecast calls for a high of 96 degrees, which could break the record 94 degrees set in 1995.
“It’s possible,” Sukup said. “We’re not expecting it to get as hot as it did today.”
In Santa Barbara, Tuesday’s high temperature is expected to be 84 degrees.
Sukup said temperatures should be back near the normal 73 degrees by Saturday.
» Click here for the complete National Weather Service forecast.
» Click here for the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Services. Click here to sign up for the OES’ messaging service. Follow the OES on Facebook.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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