By Reginald Stanley. Posted August 18, 2020, 10:53 PM.

Very strong high pressure has tightened its hold over the southwest this week, skyrocketing temperatures well into triple-digits yet again Tuesday.

The heat wave has held a strong grip on the region since Thursday of last week, resulting in excessive heat warnings being issued by the National Weather Service to the majority of Southern California through Thursday of this week. A number of wildfires have also broken out across the state, leading to consistently poor air quality from smoke. Power outages have also occurred in portions of the state where the electrical grid has been stressed from high use. High temperature records continue to be broken statewide. In the WeatherCurrents network, Lake Elsinore recorded the highest temperature on Tuesday with 114 degrees reported there. Closer to the coast, the normally mild De Luz community recorded an abnormally high temperature of 109 degrees on Tuesday. The Excessive Heat Warning issued by the National Weather Service will be in effect through 10 PM Thursday for nearly all of Southern California, with the exception of the immediate coasts and part of the Los Angeles Basin.

Monsoonal moisture, which had been largely absent from the region so far this summer as well as in 2019, made an appearance this week in the mountains and deserts. WeatherCurrents' station in Hemet took a direct hit from a thunderstorm Tuesday afternoon, with 1.35 inches recorded there over just a couple of hours. Nearby San Jacinto, as well as northwest Murrieta both also recorded small amounts of precipitation during the afternoon. The chance for isolated thunderstorms in these areas remains at 20 percent going into Wednesday, with chances increasing with an additional influx of moisture Friday and Saturday.