Southern California’s winter heat wave will continue through Super Bowl weekend along with locally gusty Santa Ana winds that drove a damaging brushfire, forecasters said Friday.
Heat advisories will stay in effect as the offshore flow bringing the unseasonable warmth remains in place, while the winds could become more widespread Friday night through Saturday.
For Super Bowl Sunday, the high at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood could hit 85 degrees at kickoff, which would top the record of 84 set in Los Angeles in 1973 and could make it the hottest Super Bowl ever, forecasters said.
On Thursday, a small, wind-driven brushfire destroyed two homes and damaged a third in the Los Angeles suburb of Whittier. A Whittier resident in his early 50s was arrested on suspicion of arson after he was found with burns in a canyon, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Friday.
The man’s name and other details weren’t immediately released.
The fire occurred during one of the hottest weeks of the year, with temperatures running as much as 25 degrees above normal for the date. Eight locations around the region had record temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
An end to the warm pattern could occur early next week. Forecasters said a storm system could drop into the region and bring some rain and mountain snow.
