Record heat to broil Malibu through Thursday Play

Good news: a distant hurricane is going to send a little rain and cooler temperatures to Malibu, maybe in four or five days. But until then, record heat will broil the Malibu coast through at least Thursday.

The overnight low Monday morning at Trancas was 86. Sunday's high was 95.

Crowds on the beach? Hardly any — the beach itself was broiling. With a predicted high Monday of 96 and a heat index up to 110 with no breezes, don't expect a big crowd at the beach today either.

Elsewhere near us, there was a brush fire 10 miles north of Castaic on Saturday. It's 48 percent contained Monday morning at about a thousand acres.

The fire danger for Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains has not been officially increased as of Sunday night. With no wind, there's not much of a fire danger.

By Friday, we may get some humidity and a small chance for showers, even maybe a thunderstorm, from leftovers of Hurricane Rachel. The hurricane may peak around the Baja Peninsula by Tuesday, entering the Malibu wave window.

A high surf advisory may get posted starting Tuesday afternoon. The Palos Verdes Peninsula will protect Malibu east of Point Dume from any hurricane waves from Rachel.

But as Hurricane Rachel continues out into the Pacific, the swell direction will shift around to the west. That's when Super Typhoon Choi-Wan enters the picture, sending us a very long-period westerly swell Saturday night into Sunday.

Unlike the past few weeks, the sun and the moon are currently in alignment for morning and evening high tides, with similar tidal levels around six and a half to seven feet.

This weekend the waves will shift around to come from the west. The National Weather Service says the swell has the potential to produce damaging wave action, but coming from the opposite direction.