RIVERSIDE (CNS) – For the first time this year, temperatures will soar into the 90s in the Riverside metropolitan area and other parts of the Inland Empire over the next four days, as a mini heat wave dries out the region, ushering in a change in conditions that may last awhile, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters said that starting Thursday, the mercury will top 90 degrees in all of western Riverside County and likely edge above 100 in the Coachella Valley by the weekend.
“High pressure aloft will strengthen just off the west coast … and bring greater warming in the western Inland Empire and inland Orange County,” according to an NWS statement. “For the deserts into the mountains, high temperatures will continue to warm slowly for Saturday and possibly into Sunday, with high temperatures near to a few degrees above 100 in the lower deserts.”
The coming weekend contrasts sharply with last weekend’s conditions in the region, where mostly cloudy and cool weather predominated.
According to the NWS, high temperatures in Riverside from Thursday to Sunday will hover in the low to mid-90s, while in the Temecula Valley, the mercury will crest just above 90, and in Palm Springs and other Coachella Valley communities, it will probably hit or come in just shy of triple digits.
Clear and sunny skies are in the forecast going into early next week, during which temps will continue to settle above 90 in most inland locations, meteorologists said.
No rain is predicted through most of next week, according to forecasters.
