Santa Barbara County is expected to see extreme heat most of the week with high temperatures in the 90s, with slight relief by the weekend.
An extreme heat warning is in effect through Thursday night for Santa Barbara and the South Coast, and North County communities are under a heat advisory, according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologist Ryan Kittell said the region most likely will not get relief from the heat until the weekend.
“There might be a little bit of improvement Wednesday and Thursday, but still going to be much warmer than normal, especially once you get inland off the coast,” Kittell said. “So, not really looking for much of a significant break in the heat until Friday or Saturday.”
Kittell said a late heat wave is not unusual for early October, but it’s not usually this hot.
National Weather Service records show this is the fifth-hottest summer ever for Santa Barbara, between June and October. For downtown Los Angeles, it’s the hottest summer ever recorded.
Santa Barbara was possibly going to break its daily heat record Monday (98 degrees, set in 1971), Kittell noted.
The city is expected to have daytime high temperatures in the 90s to high 80s through the week, and overnight temperatures should drop to the high 60s, according to the latest forecast.
The Santa Ynez Valley is likely to see daytime highs near 100 throughout the week.
The Santa Maria Valley and Lompoc Valley will see cooler weather, but daytime temperatures still should be in the mid-to high 80s for most of the week. The daytime heat could rise to the low 90s on Wednesday.
One reason the heat wave might not feel as bad as the last one is because of less humidity in the air.
The National Weather Service uses humidity to help calculate an area’s heat index. The index tries to project how hot it feels during a heat wave based on the humidity in the air and the body’s ability to cool itself by sweating.
“If the humidity is high, that cooling effect, that evaporation, doesn’t happen as readily,” Kittell said. “The cooling effect is lessened, and so the heat index tries to account for that humidity aspect.”
Kittell warned residents to make sure they have a plan to find a cool place to work in the afternoon and early evening, when the heat reaches its peak. He also reminded everyone to hydrate.
“Water’s your friend. Drink a lot of it. Stay in it if you can if you need to stay cool, but definitely try to find ways to keep you and your family cool,” he said.
Read more heat safety tips here.
Goleta announced that it would open the City Hall council chambers as a cooling center on Monday and Tuesday from noon to 5 p.m.
The county Office of Emergency Management does not have plans for other cooling centers this week, but said there are locations available to activate if there is a need. Residents can contact the office at 805.681.5526 or oem@countyofsb.org.
Cool spaces in the community are another option for people to escape the heat, county officials said, such as libraries, movie theaters and air-conditioned businesses.
Check the latest forecasts and weather-related alerts from the National Weather Service.
