L.A. Heat Wave: The Sequel coming Thursday

Did you enjoy Southern California’s recently cooler temperatures?

Good, because that will soon be over.

The National Weather Service said temperatures could climb into the triple-digits – again – across the region by Thursday. (The last heat wave also really got going two Thursdays ago).

This heat wave, which baked places from San Diego to Ventura counties, won’t be as blistering as the last one, forecasters said. But they’re still above the historic average for this time of the year.

“It’s warmer than normal…[but] there are heat waves to be expected in August,� said Andrew Rorke, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

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Temperatures are expected to gradually increase this week until they peak Thursday, when the thermometer could hit 103 degrees in the valleys and the 90s in downtown Los Angeles, Rorke said. A few records could be broken, he added.

The forecast is similar farther south, said James Brotherton, a meteorologist with the weather service in San Diego. Thunderstorms are expected on Tuesday when a half inch of rain could drop in Big Bear, where crews are battling a 100-acre wildfire that’s near a ski resort.

For those areas that don’t get rain just before the heat wave gets started, Brotherton said: “It’s hot so it’ll be an elevated fire danger.�

If it seems like this summer has been a bit warmer for longer than normal, that’s because it has been, especially along the coast.

Unusually warm waters off the California coast helped keep away a normal June gloom, Rorke said. This year saw the hottest July on Earth since official record keeping began.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.

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