Riverside, Palm Springs, San Jacinto Set Heat Records

PALM SPRINGS, CA — It may be the end of November, but Mother Nature isn't letting up on the heat just yet, with Palm Springs tying Modesto as the hottest cities in the nation Tuesday.

Palm Springs reached a high temperature of 91 degrees on Tuesday, tying the record for the date set in 1949, according to the National Weather Service.

Riverside hit a high of 89 degrees, breaking the daily record of 87 set in 2008. San Jacinto also set a record, reaching 87 degrees to top the record for the date of 84 degrees set in 1995.

Forecasters said weak Santa Ana winds are expected to continue in the area through Wednesday, keeping conditions hot and dry.

"Onshore flow is expected to return Thursday, increasing low cloud and fog coverage into portions of the valleys and bringing cooler temperatures inland through Saturday," according to the NWS.

Strong easterly winds are forecast to return to the Inland Empire on Sunday and Monday, bringing with them increased fire danger, but the scale of the Santa Ana wind event is still unknown.

"Gusty northeast to east winds, above average temperatures and dry conditions are expected," according to the National Weather Service.

The Weather Service published charts showing several ridges of high pressure sliding across Northern California and anchoring over the Great Basin in Nevada and Utah on Sunday, generating the high winds, which were last prevalent during Thanksgiving.

The highs will be overtaken by troughs of low pressure going into Tuesday, with a cold front pushing across Central California, displacing the drier systems, forecasters said.

There's wet weather in the forecast for the Sierra Nevada mountains and other areas of Central California, but it remains to be seen how much precipitation could stretch into Southern California early next week, meteorologists said.

In the Riverside metropolitan area, high temperatures will generally range in the mid to upper 70s for the rest of the week, with lows in the upper 40s. Temperatures will climb back into the 80s Sunday.

In the Coachella Valley, highs will hover in the low 80s for the rest of the week, and lows in the upper 50s, while in the Temecula Valley, highs will remain in the low 70s, and lows in the mid-40s going into the weekend.