Good morning, SoCal. Here's what you need to know today.
Your Weather Planner
There's good news if you are enjoying the cooler temperatures. They are sticking around for today and through the weekend. It will still be hot with 90s and low 100s in the deserts.
Most of our inland valleys and parts of the Inland Empire will even get to start the day under some marine layer clouds. Those clouds will clear to the coast by mid to late morning and some beaches may have a tough time clearing.
Along with the clouds, you will start the day with temperatures in the 50s and low 60s. So, you might want to bring a sweatshirt if you are heading out for an early morning jog.
Winds will start off light and variable, but onshore breezes will take over in the afternoon. It will get pretty gusty in the mountains, passes and high desert. Sustained winds will be in the 20-30 mph range with gusts to 40 mph in these areas.
Get your 7-day forecast: LA West | LA East | San Fernando Valley/Ventura County | Orange County
Around SoCal
1. LA exits 'high' COVID transmission category, but vaccine disparities linger
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the LA County's cumulative seven-day rate of COVID-19 infections was 87.5 per 100,000 residents, enough to fall out of the "high" transmission category and into the less severe "substantial" category.
The seven-day cumulative infection rate last week was 104 per 100,000 residents. The counties move out of the CDC's "high" transmission category mirrored the move of the state as a whole. California is now the only state in the nation to advance to the CDC's "substantial" transmission ranking.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted last week that the county has seen its case rate slowly but steadily fall. But she told the county Board of Supervisors Wednesday that despite that recent success, disparities in vaccination rates among ethnic and age groups continue to pose a threat of more virus surges.
"The sad reality is it's been almost six months since vaccines became widely available in LA County, and yet with the exception of adults 65-79 years old, no numbers (of vaccination rates) are even close to 100%, with large numbers of people in each of these subgroups still unvaccinated," Ferrer said. "And persistent gaps should worry all of us, since these indicate significant opportunities for continued high transmission of the virus and the associated risk of increased variants of concerns. We need to reach as many people in each of these subgroups if we're going to have a chance at ending this pandemic."
2. OC's COVID-19 hospitalizations continue downward trend
Orange County's COVID-19 hospitalizations dipped down again, according to data released Wednesday, continuing a trend indicating a slowing of the summer surge.
Hospitalizations declined from 372 on Tuesday to 368, with the number of patients in intensive care dipping from 105 to 103, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The weekly averages, which are released on Tuesdays, showed that the county's case rate per 100,000 residents dropped from 16 to 15.3, while the testing positivity rate fell from 5.4% to 4.7%.
The county's Health Equity Quartile positivity rate, which measures progress in the county's low-income communities, dropped from 5.8% to 5.1%.
"Those are all good," said Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and UC Irvine professor of population health and disease prevention. "The test positivity is very important and I like to see that dropping. That's a kind of leading indicator so I'll be unhappy if that goes sideways."
3. Southern California forest closures extended through Sept. 22
Angeles National Forest officials Wednesday announced that the ongoing forest-wide emergency closure order for the Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests has been extended until midnight on Sept. 22.
Although the regional order issued on Aug. 31 that closed public access to all national forests in California through Sept. 17 will be rescinded Wednesday evening at midnight, Southern California forests will remain closed, officials said.
"Due to ongoing high fire danger and active wildfires across the West, the Southern California national forests will remain closed for another week to better provide for public and firefighter safety," forest service officials said.
"Moreover, conditions on the forest have prompted Angeles forest fire managers to increase the fire danger level from Extreme to Critical," officials added.
The increase in the fire danger will require restricting access to the national forest for non-essential activities.
Around the Nation
1. U.S. unemployment claims rise after hitting pandemic low
2. Derek Chauvin to be arraigned for alleged civil rights violation in 2017 arrest of teen
3. U.N. chief urges 'rapid' emission cuts to curb climate change
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SoCal Snapshot
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