More than 35 million people were under heat alerts across California on Sunday, October 4, as a prolonged October heat wave gripped much of the state, ABC News reported in an updated afternoon bulletin. The National Weather Service warned that dangerous conditions along the coast and in the valleys of Los Angeles and Ventura counties would continue until Thursday evening.
ABC reported temperatures as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit above seasonal norms, with hot conditions stretching from Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area to the Mexican border. Warm nights were expected to offer little relief in some urban areas. Los Angeles and San Diego remained under extreme heat warnings, while San Francisco and Sacramento had heat advisories.
A National Weather Service warning issued Sunday forecast coastal temperatures of 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, about 32 to 38 Celsius, and valley temperatures reaching 106 Fahrenheit, about 41 Celsius, in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Its expiry was set for 8 p.m. Pacific time on October 8. These figures describe forecast conditions, rather than temperatures already measured across those areas.
The weather service’s Hanford office also warned of unusually high October temperatures in the Central Valley into the coming week. It identified Bakersfield, areas along the Coastal Range and Merced County as places facing major heat risk over the weekend. The office said this intensity of heat could endanger anyone without sufficient cooling or hydration, with older people and infants especially vulnerable.
The Los Angeles weather service urged residents to spend time in air-conditioned spaces, avoid direct sun, drink fluids and check on relatives and neighbours. Its guidance pointed people without home air conditioning towards libraries, shopping centres or local cooling centres. It also recommended moving outdoor activities to a cooler day and taking longer, more frequent breaks if being outside was unavoidable.
ABC’s Sunday update said the heat would spread across much of the western United States during the following 24 hours. For California, the immediate outlook remained several days of elevated temperatures: the Los Angeles and Ventura warning runs through Thursday, while Hanford’s forecast carries heat risk into the new week. The official notices emphasise that access to cooling remains central to reducing exposure during the prolonged event.
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