Spring is only getting started, but portions of California and the West are already experiencing summer-like temperatures as an early-season warm weather strengthens through Friday.
Meanwhile, the Bay Area will be mostly spared the heat, with temperatures rising only a few degrees over usual.
Within California, the most intense heat will be concentrated in Southern California, where temperatures are forecast to rise up to 20 degrees above seasonal averages. On Thursday and Friday, highs in the Coachella Valley will reach triple digits, including Palm Springs, where afternoon temperatures may exceed 100 degrees.
The wider Los Angeles and San Diego areas will also experience the early-spring sizzle. Ontario, San Bernardino, and Redlands will reach highs in the low 90s on both days. Even coastal locations, like as Anaheim and downtown Los Angeles, are expected to see temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s.
However, the most significant temperature shifts will occur elsewhere in the West, in areas like as Nevada, Utah, and Idaho, where dry air and plenty of sunshine will allow for rapid warming. High temperatures in Boise, Idaho, are anticipated to reach the mid 80s on Thursday, roughly 25 degrees higher than the usual for early April and well into record territory.
This stretch of early spring warmth is being driven by a strong ridge of high pressure that is forming over the southwest United States. By Thursday and Friday, the center of that ridge will have parked itself over the Great Basin, increasing subsidence and laying the groundwork for record-breaking temperatures across a large portion of the interior West.
The high pressure ridge’s inland position helped the Bay Area avoid the worst of the heat this time around, as temperatures peaked on Wednesday. The Bay Area and the rest of California will experience colder temperatures over the weekend as the high-pressure ridge breaks down and the marine layer exerts more influence further inland.
