Santa Barbara County broke heat records at both the Santa Maria Airport and the Santa Barbara Airport on Wednesday, reaching 103°F in North County and 96°F in South County. Those two weather stations are the only two with the equipment relied upon by the National Weather Service for such records, but gauges around the county recorded higher temps, including 105°F at 2 in the morning of the 9th. That was recorded by the RAWS (Remote Automated Weather Station) at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in the foothills of Mission Canyon.
The record heat at the two airports breached the daily record held since September 9, 1984, when SBA hit 95°F and SMX hit 99°F. “I don’t know about 1984,” said Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, “but on Wednesday we were trapped under a ridge of high pressure, which typically results in warmer temperatures.” He added that light winds blew offshore, which prevented any sea breeze, helping to warm up the day.
Daily records were also broken across the local NWS coverage area, in Camarillo, Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles, Oxnard, and Paso Robles, he said…