A sign in front of Pacific Western Bank in Goleta shows the warm temperatures experienced Thursday in Santa Barbara County. The official reading was 84 degrees, breaking the previous record high of 82 degrees set in 1991.
It was certainly hard to tell on Thursday that it was winter in Santa Barbara.
Even before the clock struck noon, the temperature reading at the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport was at 84 degrees, breaking the previous record high temperature of 82 degrees set in 1991, according to the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
Once the news was posted to Twitter on Thursday, a user questioned the weather service and asked, “Is this winter or summer?”
The weather service replied, “Swinter maybe?”
Today’s forecast calls for a high of 81 degrees with sunny skies, which could reach the daily record high of 82 set in 2014.
The above-average temperatures have resulted in a fire weather watch being issued tonight through Saturday morning for county mountains and the South Coast. A fire weather watch indicates that critical fire weather conditions are expected.
A red flag warning will be in place through 4 p.m. today for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the weather service.
Into the weekend, a slight cool down is expected. Conditions on Sunday are expected to be in the upper 70s, with temperatures dropping slightly into early next week.
The heat wave comes after high surf swells occurred on local beaches over the past several days.
According to the weather service, peak surf occurred on Wednesday in the south portion of Santa Barbara County, with waves between 3 to 6 feet. Central Coast beaches experienced waves between 12 to 18 feet.
email: mwhite@newspress.com
