An excessive heat warning is in effect for much of the interior areas of Southern California through Monday evening, and now some coastal communities are finding themselves under a heat advisory.
In addition to the triple digit temperatures, winds are expected to pick up on Saturday afternoon, with gusts of up to 25 miles per hour in some parts of Los Angeles and upwards of 40 miles per hour in mountain areas.
“We are going to see elevated fire danger for the interior sections because of the wind, the triple digits and the low relative humidity,” said KTLA 5 Meteorologist Kacey Montoya.
Temperatures across the desert Southwest are forecast to soar well over 100 degrees; the high in Blythe, California – a city on the California-Arizona border – for Saturday is 119 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, the peak of the excessive heat will last through Sunday and into Monday evening.
The heatwave comes as fire crews fight several large fires that have already burned over 5,000 acres in Riverside County and forced more than 20 homes to evacuate.
The NWS recommends reducing exposure by staying hydrated and keeping children, the elderly and pets out of excessive heat.
This weekend’s heatwave is forecast to be so hot that it may potentially break the record for hottest temperature ever recorded: 134 degrees Fahrenheit (56.6 degrees Celsius) in Death Valley in 1934.