A slew of Southern California cities saw heat records broken Tuesday, including Santa Barbara and Santa Maria.
At the Santa Barbara Airport, a high of 85 degrees overtook the old record of 81 for Feb. 9 set back in 2006, according to the National Weather Service.
It was even hotter in Santa Maria, with the mercury topping out at 87 degrees. That broke the previous record of 83 degrees, also set in 2006.
Temperatures were expected to flirt with breaking heat records later this week as well, according to Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
“We’re expecting the hottest day of the week to be today,” he said.
“But, for tomorrow, we do have a shot at setting a couple records.”
Munroe forecast a high of 82 degrees in Santa Barbara on Wednesday — matching the previous record set in 1988.
In Santa Maria, the temperature was expected to reach 83 degrees, which would overtake an old record of 80 set in 1971, he said.
Temperatures were expected to drop a couple degrees each day through Saturday, when highs would be in the low to mid 70s and a bit cooler on the coast.
No rain was in sight, but Munroe said late next week will bring a chance for some of the wet stuff.
Because the forecast was too far out, he couldn’t say whether any El Niño rainstorms were on the way.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.