Triple-Digit Heat to Dominate Inland Region Later This Week

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Most of the Inland Empire will be boiling by the end of this week, with temperatures forecast to exceed 100 degrees in the Riverside metropolitan area over a four-day period, while the mercury will top 110 in the Coachella Valley, according to the National Weather Service. The agency said that a ridge of high pressure settling over the Great Basin in Nevada and Utah will influence weather patterns, gripping the region from Thursday into early next week. "The resulting heat risk for inland areas of the warmer nights and warmer days will push the deserts close to Excessive Heat Warning criteria for Friday and Saturday, and possibly Sunday, and in the inland valleys to Heat Advisory criteria," the NWS said in a statement. The heat wave is slated to linger into Monday or Tuesday of next week, when the ridge is expected to give way to low pressure troughs trundling in from the northwest. Forecasters said monsoonal moisture and convective instability may raise the "potential for thunderstorms in the mountains" at the end of the week. Rain amounts were not mentioned. In the Coachella Valley, the sizzle will span the entire week, with highs forecast to be above 110 from Monday to Sunday, and low temperatures generally hovering in the mid 80s. In Riverside metro, high temps will settle in the mid 90s until Thursday, then cross the 100-degree mark Friday, through the weekend, and Monday, according to the NWS. Lows will be in the mid to upper 60s most of the week. Forecast models indicated that the Temecula Valley will elude triple digits, peaking in the low to mid 90s in the latter half of the week and through the weekend, with lows between 60 and 65 degrees. Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc. CNS-07-11-2022 11:06