The heat's still on

There was a three-digit surprise waiting for Santa Maria residents Saturday after forecasters had predicted high temperatures in the low 80s.

Santa Maria topped out at a record-smashing 104 degrees at 12:14 p.m. Saturday, compared to the previous record of 88 degrees for Aug. 29, set in 1977, according to the National Weather Service.

Saturday marked Santa Maria's second day of record-breaking temperatures in three days, and today is expected to be hot again.

Santa Maria was the only city for which the National Weather Service keeps records that set a record Saturday in Santa Barbara and southern San Luis Obispo counties, according to forecaster Bill Hoffer.

However, other Central Coast locations also had much hotter temperatures than forecast Saturday.

Lompoc, expected to reach 76 degrees, hit 94. Santa Ynez, expected to reach 100, had a high of 109.

Bill Hoffer of the National Weather Service said forecasters have to use their best judgment as to what weather will do based on what weather is actually doing at the time of the forecast.

"All the information we get here that's available to us does not tell us everything," he said.

"We've come close many times," he said of weather predictions, "but it's not that perfected yet."

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Weather is constantly changing, Hoffer said, "and we as forecasters are shooting at a moving target."

More typical Central Coast weather is expected to return with a slight cooling beginning Monday, he said.

Meanwhile, forecasters expect today to be another hot one.

Santa Maria is expected to reach 98 degrees today; Lompoc, 94; Santa Ynez, 103; and Pismo Beach, 83, according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for inland areas of the Central Coast and is cautioning that the hot, dry air will make conditions ripe for forest fires.

August 30, 2009