Los Angeles — Extreme Heat Warning Holds Through Thursday

Burbank, a suburb just north of Los Angeles, hit 39 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the National Weather Service reported, according to the Guardian's Weather Tracker. The National Weather Service has an extreme heat warning in place for parts of Southern California, including Los Angeles, that runs through Thursday, with temperatures forecast to reach the high 30s Celsius across the warning area this week, the Guardian reported.

The Burbank reading came within a few degrees of the station's October record, set in 1987, the Guardian reported, citing the National Weather Service. No single high-temperature figure for Thursday was given in the advisory as reported.

How long does the heat warning last?

The extreme heat warning covering Los Angeles and surrounding Southern California communities is scheduled to remain in effect until Thursday, the National Weather Service said, as cited by the Guardian. The agency attributed the duration to a persistent area of high pressure sitting over the region, a weather pattern that traps warm air near the surface and blocks the marine layer and onshore flow that normally cool coastal and inland Southern California this time of year.

What is driving the heat, and why does it matter for fire risk?\n\nThe high-pressure system responsible for the heat is also raising fire danger, the Guardian reported. Hot, dry conditions dry out vegetation and increase the odds that any ignition — from a spark, downed line, or human activity — spreads quickly. The Guardian's report did not cite a specific fire-weather index or red-flag warning figure beyond stating that the hazardous heat is leading to "increased fire risk" this week.

How close is this to a record?\n\nBurbank's Saturday reading of 39C sat a few degrees below the city's October record, which was set in 1987, according to the National Weather Service figures reported by the Guardian. The Guardian did not report the exact 1987 record temperature, so the precise gap between Saturday's reading and the all-time October mark is not quantified in the available reporting.

Is this heat wave connected to the wildfires burning in Indonesia?\n\nThe same broad climate pattern cited in the Guardian's report — an active El Niño period — is linked to a separate and geographically distant extreme-weather event: an intense wildfire season in Indonesia, particularly in Western Kalimantan on Borneo and in southern Sumatra, the Guardian reported. Indonesia's wildfire season has peaked over the past month, driven by a lack of rainfall that has dried out normally water-logged tropical, peat-rich soils, allowing fires to spread both above and below ground, according to the report.

Because Indonesia's soils are unusually rich in peat, smoke from the fires there carries higher levels of toxic gases, including sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide, than typical wildfire smoke, the Guardian reported. Cities as far away as Malaysia and Singapore have experienced reduced air quality in recent weeks as a result, according to the report. Drought and wildfires of this kind are more common in the region during El Niño events, which suppress thunderstorm activity, the Guardian reported.

El Niño's effects are not limited to drought on one side of the Pacific. The same pattern is contributing to an extremely active Pacific tropical cyclone season, the Guardian reported. Super Typhoon Choi-Wan, a Category 4 storm that developed on September 30, is active southeast of Japan and on a strengthening trend, according to the report, following a run of hurricanes earlier in the eastern Pacific basin.

What should Southern California residents expect this week?\n\nThe Guardian's report frames the warning period as running through Thursday, tied to the persistent high-pressure system, without providing a day-by-day temperature breakdown beyond the Saturday Burbank reading and the general forecast for highs in the high 30s Celsius across the warning area. No cooling-center openings, utility advisories, or school-closure figures were included in the available source material.

Weather Tracker figures at a glance\n- 39C — temperature recorded in Burbank on Saturday, per the National Weather Service, as reported by the Guardian\n- High 30s Celsius — forecast peak temperatures across the Southern California warning area this week\n- Until Thursday — duration of the National Weather Service's extreme heat warning\n- 1987 — year of Burbank's standing October heat record, which Saturday's reading approached but did not break\n\n## Glossary\n\nHigh-pressure system: An area where air sinks and spreads out at the surface, suppressing cloud formation and often trapping warm air, which can produce prolonged hot, dry, and clear weather.\n\nEl Niño: A climate pattern marked by warmer-than-average surface waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which can suppress rainfall in parts of Southeast Asia while fueling more active tropical cyclone development elsewhere in the Pacific basin.\n\nThe Guardian's full Weather Tracker report, including coverage of Indonesia's wildfire season and Super Typhoon Choi-Wan, is available here.