Santa Barbara just recently got through a heatwave, but another hot spell is on the horizon.
The incoming heatwave means that this summer’s hottest temperatures are arriving a bit later than usual, Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told the News-Press.
“What is a little bit different this summer is that we would statistically see the hottest temperatures late July or early August,” she said.
The city of Santa Barbara is forecasted to experience a high temperature of 90 degrees Friday. This will climb to between 92 and 94 degrees on Saturday, with Sunday reaching 97 degrees, the apex of the heatwave.
The heatwave is expected to continue into early next week, with high temperatures on Monday and Tuesday in Santa Barbara reaching 94 and 91 degrees, respectively. It is predicted to cease on Wednesday, with high temperatures only reaching low 80s.
Temperatures at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport will likely be slightly cooler than in the city, with Saturday’s high temperature reaching 86 degrees, Sunday’s 93 degrees, and Monday’s 89 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Ms. Hoxsie said there is a possible chance that airport temperatures could actually get a few degrees hotter, even approaching daily record temperatures of 97 and 93 degrees on Sunday and Monday, respectively. However, airport highs probably won’t come anywhere near the all-time September record of 104 degrees.
As per usual with heatwaves, inland areas, such as the Santa Ynez Valley, are forecast to get considerably hotter than coastal areas. The National Weather Service predicts that the Santa Ynez Valley will hit triple digit high temperatures of 107 degrees on Friday, 110 on Saturday, 114 on Sunday, 113 on Monday, and 107 on Tuesday.
The Santa Ynez Valley will fall back into the double digits again on Wednesday, with a high temperature of 94 degrees.
Santa Maria is forecast to be somewhat cooler than Santa Barbara throughout the heatwave, with Sunday’s high temperature at 96 degrees, just under the peak temperature predicted for Santa Barbara. The rest of its high temperatures over the next several days are 79 degrees on Friday, 87 on Saturday, 92 on Monday, and 86 on Tuesday.
Once past the heatwave, Santa Maria is expected to reach a high of 80 on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
email: jgrega@newspress.com
