An excessive heat watch has been posted ahead of the next heatwave

The next heat wave will be developing quickly by the end of the week for interior areas of both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County. Our region will join much of the desert southwest with the potential for extreme temperatures between 100 and 110 degrees.

The excessive heat watch goes into place Friday morning. It lasts until Saturday at 9:00 PM but considering the forecast additional heat-related advisories are possible if not likely well into next week.

The prolonged heat event again is a risk to public health, and we'll also elevate fire weather concerns throughout the region. Preparedness, diligence, and common sense are all advised during this next heat wave.

Much like the last several heat events beaches and coastal valleys are not covered in any advisories as temperatures will not be life-threatening they'll be mild.

The reason for the excessive heat in the interior is the return of an upper-level ridge. Today and Wednesday there was a weakness in the Ridge over the West you could even call it a small trough. Strong ridging in the upper atmosphere redevelops Thursday and the high amplitude ridge looks to remain in place much of next week. There may be some day-to-day variations in the strength of the ridge resulting in temperatures going up and down a little bit but generally, it will be hot in the interior cool at the beaches, and warm in the middle.

Coastal valleys will range from the 70s to lower 80s as will the South Coast. Daytime highs at most beaches will remain in the 60s throughout the rest of the week and the coming weekend.

In our 10-day forecast, nine of the next 10 days will see daytime highs warmer than 100 degrees in the interior. The Climate Prediction Center thinks above-average temperatures are likely in their 8 to 14-day outlook.