Southern California heat wave is loosening its grip

LOS ANGELES — The first Southland heat wave of summer 2019 showed signs of breaking Tuesday, with the start of a cooling trend expected Wednesday thanks in part to increased onshore flow, but in the meantime temperatures will remain above normal in Valley communities.

Temperatures will stay high, about 5 degrees above normal in the San Fernando Valley, though not quite as high as they’ve been since Thursday, when the heat wave started.

“People should still take precautions,” said National Weather Service meteorologist David Sweet. “The valleys are still quite warm” though temperatures will be 3 to 5 degrees cooler in the coming days.

The National Weather Service forecast a mixture of sunny and partly cloudy skies in LA County Tuesday and highs of 74 in Avalon; 75 in San Pedro; 76 in Torrance; 77 at LAX; 82 on Mount Wilson; 85 in Long Beach and downtown LA; 91 in San Gabriel and Whittier; 92 in Burbank and North Hollywood; 93 in Studio City; 94 in Pasadena; 96 in West Covina, Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks; 97 in Reseda; and 98 in Woodland Hills, Northridge, Santa Clarita, Palmdale and Lancaster. Wednesday’s highs will be several degrees lower in several communities. For instance, Santa Clarita and Woodland Hills will be at 90 and 91 degrees, respectively.

Sunny skies were forecast Tuesday in Orange County, which has not been experiencing the same level of heat as LA County, along with highs of 74 in Laguna Beach and San Clemente; 75 in Newport Beach; 79 on Santiago Peak; 85 in Santa Ana and on Ortega Canyon at 2,600 feet; 87 in Fullerton; 88 in Irvine and Mission Viejo; 89 in Anaheim and Yorba Linda; 90 in Trabuco Canyon; and 91 in Fremont Canyon.