The hottest weather in two years is expected across much of California as July ends and August begins.
A high-pressure system supporting sustained and record-breaking heat in the Central U.S. will shift west late next week. The system’s exact position is still uncertain, but it will likely be close enough to California to send temperatures soaring as early as Friday, with peak heat Aug. 1-4.
Heat shifts west
Millions of Southern Californians are under heat advisories and warnings this weekend. Hot conditions will persist there next week, but weather systems reshuffling across the U.S. will redistribute heat by the final day of July.
An unusually strong summer jet stream over Northern California and the Northwest is expected to weaken late next week. At the same time, a Pacific hurricane well off the coast of Mexico will move northwest. These processes will work in tandem to allow a high-pressure system, scientifically known as a ridge, from the Central U.S. to expand toward California.
Hottest in two years
The ridge has “trended stronger” in recent model simulations, according to the National Weather Service. It may be among the most powerful high-pressure systems on record over Las Vegas on Aug. 1, and similar to the strength of high-pressure systems in 2024. That summer, extreme and long-lasting record-breaking heat gripped much of the West.
Redding, Fresno, Palm Springs and Las Vegas set all-time heat records in July 2024. This heat wave may come up a few degrees short of those marks, but signs point to at least one 110-degree day in all of those cities.