Chill Is Goner With Arrival of Warmer Days

The winter chill that whipped through Southern California sending icy shivers through the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys began moving out of the area on Monday, making way for a warmer week, forecasters said.

On Sunday night, temperatures in Lancaster plunged to 15 degrees with a light sprinkling of snow, and in Burbank the mercury dipped to 33, tying records set in both cities on the same date in 1978.

According to the National Weather Service, Monday morning wake-up call in Woodland Hills and other parts of the area meant chipping frost off car windows and windshields with ice picks. Others, like Andra Ratliff, who were unprepared for the early frost used credit cards to crack the ice.

Ratliff, who has lived in Lancaster for 35 years, had hoped to finish the roof on her new house before winter hit. So when snowflakes fell on Sunday, she was somewhat surprised.

“This is a lot colder than it normally gets in early December, even for us,” said Ratliff, 40, a volunteer coordinator at Antelope Valley Hospital. “But it’s kind of nice to have these cold, crisp days. We’re used to it over here.”

Meteorologist Jeff House of WeatherData Inc. said the cold blast that hit Los Angeles was caused by a system that originated in the northwestern Gulf of Alaska.

House said that cold front was working its way down mountain slopes and being replaced by warmer air and temperatures that could hit the 70s by Wednesday or Thursday.

Monday afternoon turned out to be a mixed bag depending on where you were. At the Los Angeles Civic Center, the high temperature reached a comfortable 63 degrees. In Lancaster, the high was 47.

Although temperatures are expected to rise, gusty winds that averaged about 25 mph on Monday will remain.

“These are the early beginnings of the Santa Ana winds,” said meteorologist Jonathan Slemmer of the National Weather Service in Oxnard. “Within the next few days, they will begin to pick up speed.”

Today, forecasters expect a clear, brisk and breezy day with temperatures in the mid-60s. Overnight lows would remain in the 30s and 40s with strong winds near the canyons.

On Wednesday and Thursday, high temperatures are expected to reach the mid-60s and lower 70s.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

COOL DAYS

Two records were tied in the area early Monday as temperatures dropped and the winds blew.

*--*

Monday Record City lows for day Burbank 35 33 (1978) Chatsworth 36 35 (1978) Lancaster 15 15 (1978) Newhall 36 n/a Van Nuys 41 n/a Woodland Hills 39 n/a

*--*

Sources: WeatherData, National Weather Service