Weather expert issues terrifying warning for California heat wave: ‘Most extraordinary in history’

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The heat wave about to batter Southern California could be the “most extraordinary” in history, an expert has warned.

“It’s hard to put into words just how extreme the heatwave coming to California and the Western U.S. is going to be,” Colin McCarthy, a weather analyst who covers extreme global weather, wrote on X.

“This truly ranks among the most extraordinary heatwaves the United States has ever seen.”

The Mojave Desert, including the Coachella Valley, is expected to soar above 105°F and could likely shatter all-time records for March.

Los Angeles could see four days above 95°F in the next seven days and has a legitimate chance of hitting 100°F. The city is expected to see warm and mostly sunny weather over the next several days.

Temperatures will climb from the mid-80s on Sunday to the upper 80s on Monday before peaking in the mid-90s on Tuesday.

Sunny conditions are expected to continue through Wednesday and Thursday, with highs around the low 90s.

Rain chances remain very low throughout the week, and overnight lows will stay in the upper 50s to low 60s. This comes after last week saw temperatures more than 20–30 degrees higher than usual.

Palm Springs is forecast to hit 111°F next Friday, McCarthy warned, adding it would break the U.S. record high for the month of March by three degrees.

“It would also be seven degrees warmer than any other March day Palm Springs has ever seen,” he added.

McCarthy said that farther south in the Coachella Valley, the town of Thermal is forecast to hit 113°F — a temperature that would tie the hottest April reading ever recorded in the United States.

What makes the forecast even more unusual, he noted, is that it would occur on March 20, not in April. Thermal’s hottest March temperature on record is 103°F, meaning the forecast would exceed the monthly record by 10 degrees — something McCarthy said is virtually unheard of.

Even San Francisco, a city notoriously resistant to extreme heat, could approach 90°F early next week and break its March heat record of 89°F.

“I could go on and on with statistics about how absurd this event is, but this heatwave is the word ‘unprecedented’ at its most literal,” he noted.

Last week, the National Weather Service warned of drastic and record-high temperatures across Southern California.

The NWS advised that most residents are at high risk for heat-related illness this week and recommended limiting strenuous outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., staying hydrated, taking frequent breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas, and checking on children, the elderly, and pets.

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