As teeth chatter across the U.S., Southern California is a hot spot: What to expect this week

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While cold-stunned iguanas fall from trees in Florida and videos circulate of frozen “exploding” trees in the Northeast, Southern California is working up a sweat.A midwinter heat wave has descended on much of the state and is expected to spike temperatures as much as 20 degrees above normal in the coming week.The summer-like heat is thanks to a ridge of high pressure lingering high in the atmosphere that extends through the San Francisco Bay Area and into the Pacific Northwest.Meteorologists with the National Weather Service expect it to last through the end of the week and potentially through Super Bowl Sunday.After a cooler Monday for the L.A.

area, another push of warm weather may bring near-record temperatures by Wednesday — potentially reaching 90 degrees across the inland coast and valley areas of L.A.and Ventura counties, according to the weather service.The high-pressure ridge this week is expected to go “all the way up through Canada into southern Alaska,” said Carol Ciliberti, a meteorologist with the weather service.

“It’s pretty impressive.”Moderate Santa Ana winds, which may bring gusts up to 50 mph in the mountains, could add some additional heat to the region.While downtown Los Angeles and Los Angeles International Airport tied daily record-high temperatures Friday, other parts of the United States set new daily record lows.Nearly half of Americans were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings Sunday.Frigid Arctic air, winter storms and a “bomb cyclone” dumped heavy snow on New England, triggered flight cancellations in North Carolina and tested the limits of power systems in the South.Bomb cyclones typically occur when Arctic air creeps south and clashes with warm air, creating a storm that rapidly intensifies as its pressure suddenly drops — or “bombs out.”It’s a common occurrence for the Northeastern U.S.

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