What experts describe as some of the worst humidity they\u2019ve ever recorded in Southern California gripped the region Tuesday, making already hot, miserable conditions feel even worse.<\/p>\n
The extreme weather, a preview of the intense El Ni\u00f1o conditions forecast for Southland this winter, will keep temperatures in 90s and 100s in some areas for several days. The coast will offer little respite, with high surf, intense temperatures and ocean pollution due to the rain. <\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s humidity was punishing, with dewpoints hitting 76 degrees in Long Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach after 12 p.m. <\/p>\n
The National Weather Service office in Oxnard, which issues forecasts for L.A. County, doesn\u2019t keep records for dewpoint or relative humidity. But one meteorologist there, Richard Thompson, who has been forecasting for more than three decades, said \u201cthis current dewpoint\/humidity condition is among the most oppressive that I can remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hurricane Marie off the Pacific Ocean is a key reason for the conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of that tropical moisture is really coming from [the remnants of Marie] leaning into our area,\u201d and at the same time a ridge of high pressure will build into the region from the east over the next several days, said Kristan Lund, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service\u2019s Oxnard office. <\/p>\n
Many communities in the coastal parts of the region experienced isolated showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Marie has been reduced to a low-pressure system that is still spinning offshore and sending a deep tropical air mass to the Southern California region, said climate scientist Daniel Swain. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have very warm, very moist air from [Marie and] thunderstorms across the LA Basin,\u201d Swain said in a livestream on Tuesday<\/a>. \u201cAnywhere that isn\u2019t raining right now in Southern California, it\u2019s disgustingly humid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is extremely humid by anyone\u2019s definition, this isn\u2019t just \u2018Oh, it never gets humid in Southern California we aren\u2019t acclimated,\u201d Swain said. \u201cThis is an absolute humidity that is very high, and in some cases it is right up there at the ceiling of the humidity that we\u2019ve really ever seen in this part of the world at any time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n On Tuesday afternoon, places like New Orleans and Orlando, Fla., had similar dewpoints to those in Long Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.<\/p>\n Forecasters say, weak offshore pressure gradients in the morning limited the sea breeze effect and allowed temperatures to climb. The heat generated by this is being exacerbated by the increased humidity due to the tropical storm\u2019s moisture. <\/p>\n Jumping into the ocean to escape the heat isn\u2019t advised, Lund said, as dangerous rip currents with high surf and continued coastal flooding are forecast for south-facing beaches through Tuesday. <\/p>\n Over the weekend, a combination of high swells, higher-than-high tides and tropical storm charged walloped the Long Beach Peninsula. The intensity resulted in structural damage and evacuation of about 20 homes<\/a> as well as road closures Monday afternoon. On Tuesday the city of Malibu reported a sinkhole in a beachfront property driveway on Sea Level Drive, a roadway that abuts the ocean. In a statement the officials said they are monitoring and responding to coastal erosion issues in areas including Pacific Coast Highway in the Palisades Fire burn area and at Westward Beach due to strong waves and high tides.<\/p>\n Temperatures are set to rise through Wednesday and so will the humidity.<\/p>\n Highs will peak in the 90s over a wide swath of Los Angeles County, including some coastal areas, with low 100s in some areas. The western San Fernando Valley and Woodland Hills will reach 105 degrees, Lund said. <\/p>\n There won\u2019t be enough offshore flow to create much of any canyon winds but enough to deprive the region of the cooling sea breeze, forecasters say. <\/p>\n \u201cThe still-lingering moisture from Marie, combined with the heat, will add to the heat discomfort and create added heat stress,\u201d said David Gomberg, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service<\/a> in Los Angeles-Oxnard, which issued a heat advisory<\/a> for Wednesday and Thursday and is on alert to ramp up the warnings if the week gets worse.<\/p>\n \u201cHeat stress\u201d is the total amount of heat that a person\u2019s body must adjust to in order to keep a stable temperature in our core and organs, said Dr. David Eisenman, professor with the David Geffen School of Medicine and Fielding UCLA School of Public Health.<\/p>\n \u201cOur body works best when the internal temperature is about 98.6 degrees and our body is consistently trying to hold to that number,\u201d Eisenman said. <\/p>\n The source of this heat can be internal \u2014 can come from exercising \u2014 or external such as hot weather. <\/p>\n If it gets hotter outside and more humid outside, which keeps the sweat from drying off our body, our body has to work harder to maintain that stable temperature, he said. <\/p>\n Heat advisories include the Los Angeles County beaches and coastal valleys and the Santa Monica Mountains. <\/p>\n On Wednesday the heat advisories expand to the Ventura County coasts and valleys, the Santa Clarita Valley, and all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. <\/p>\n On Thursday there will be some onshore trends which will serve to cool the coastal communities some but the interior will continue to sizzle.<\/p>\n Residents can expect another round of uncomfortable nights as moisture will keep overnight temperatures well above normal in the 70s with some 80s in the foothills. <\/p>\n