Autumn trick, no treat: Extreme heat hits Cambria, North Coast

It’s nearly Halloween, but look what keeps coming back to haunt Cambria and the North Coast: summerlike temperatures.

“Hot weather in October is certainly not unusual, especially with the Santa Lucia winds,” PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey said Monday. “However, breaking temperature records is of note. San Luis Obispo reached 102 degrees, breaking in the previous record of 99 degrees, set back in 1965.”

The highs on Red Mountain, east of Cambria, had been in the 60s as recently as Saturday but rose to 77 the following day and hit 91 on Monday. Readings at the Cambria Community Services District site, 5500 Heath Lane, were lower, even if it didn’t feel like it around town. The high there was 77, but it hit 95 at the Cambria Fire Station.

Then there was the Berwick Heights weather station near Norwich Avenue on Lodge Hill, which pushed past the 100-degree mark Tuesday at 12:40 p.m.

Lindsey said Los Osos topped out at 99 on Monday, while Santa Maria’s 100-degree reading eclipsed the previous record for the date of 98, also set in 1965.

The record-breaking temperatures come as the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the Central Coast that lasted until 8 p.m. Tuesday. In Cambria, the mercury reached 83 before noon according to weather.com, and was flirting with 90 by midafternoon.

“I’m with everybody else, I would love to see cooler temperatures,” Lindsey said. “This is getting out-of-control, and it’s not even an El Niño year.”

A lot of homes in the Cambria area don’t come equipped with air conditioning, as do homes in the more typically torrid summer climes of the Central Valley. On social media, one resident said the latest heat wave had motivated her to buy a fan; another suggested turning on a fan and staying cool using a wet washcloth.

The heat, combined with gusty Santa Lucia winds and low humidity, meant the Central Coast saw extreme fire danger conditions Tuesday, Lindsey said.

“This is a very unusual late season heat wave and should not be taken lightly!” the NWS wrote in its advisory report.

Temperatures were expected to trend slowly downward over after peaking Tuesday, with weather.com predicting highs in the high 70s Thursday through Saturday, before falling into the mid-60s in time for Halloween.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Autumn trick, no treat: Extreme heat hits Cambria, North Coast."