LOS ANGELES — The heat wave that gripped much of California for the past three days was fading Thursday except for a handful of Los Angeles-area valleys and mountains.
Excessive heat warnings were reissued for holdout hot spots including the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Santa Clarita valleys, primarily because they didn't cool off Wednesday night, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Hall said.
An overnight low of 78 degrees was recorded in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley, he said.
However, low pressure flowing in from the Pacific Ocean will cause temperatures to plunge over the next few days, Hall said.
Woodland Hills, another San Fernando Valley location, had a high of 109 on Wednesday but that will fall to 77 on Saturday, Hall said.
Another heat spell was expected to move in late next week.
"We know it's going to get warmer, we just don't know how warm," Hall said. "Right now, it doesn't look like it will be as warm as this one."
The heat wave that began Monday was caused by a high-pressure area from southwestern states. In addition, a subtropical flow from the south on Wednesday fueled wild thunderstorms that brought small brushfires and flash flooding to some inland mountains and deserts.
About a dozen people were briefly trapped inside a bus in Lake Elsinore after strong winds knocked power lines onto their vehicle. Rescue workers got everyone off the bus safely.
Fire crews responded to several small fires but no damage was reported. One blaze near Temecula grew to 35 acres before it was knocked down.
The chance of storms Thursday in the mountains and deserts had dropped significantly, Hall said.
Several temperature records fell Wednesday throughout California, the National Weather Service said.
In Southern California, Lancaster in the Antelope Valley northeast of Los Angeles recorded a high of 107, breaking the Aug. 25 record of 106 set in 1985. Ontario reached 108, a degree higher than the 1981 record for the day.
Riverside tied a 1985 record of 110.
In Northern California, it was 100 degrees in San Jose, topping the 98-degree high recorded in 1997; Santa Rosa had a high of 103, breaking the 1999 record of 101; and Oakland's 88 topped the high of 86 set in 2003.
Bishop, in Central California, tied its 1985 record of 103.
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