A long October heat wave on KTLA 5, and Texas and Phoenix talk back
Chris Wolfe's report on extreme heat warnings passed half a million views in under a day, and most of the comments come from people comparing their own thermometers.
KTLA 5Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 622,462 views a day, 51 times a normal first day on this channel (12,152).
Extreme heatwave hits Southern California
"Extreme heatwave hits Southern California" is a plain weather report. Extreme heat warnings are in effect across the region, and a long heat wave that began Friday is bringing several days of dangerously hot temperatures. KTLA's Chris Wolfe reports it for the Los Angeles station, which covers five counties from Ventura to Riverside. Within 21 hours it had close to 600,000 views, about fifty times what a new upload here usually draws on its first day.
It was not a light news Saturday for the station. Its report on a club near Cal State Northridge, where police say two people were shot dead, came close behind. The killing of a Culver City bus driver, with a suspect now arrested, passed a quarter of a million views. Maybe the heat went furthest because it is the one story that reaches every home in the region.
Much of the comment section is written from somewhere else. Viewers in Texas, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Kentucky and Alabama set their own summers beside this one, and one points to a far hotter reading in Ethiopia. Southern Californians talk about something different: summers that now run deep into autumn, air conditioning switched on in April and never switched off, and a cozy October season that does not seem to come. On the same morning, the weekend show was chatting with Legoland about its "Brick or Treat" Halloween weekends. A former resident pushes back on all of it and says October here has always been hot. One viewer jokes about the bank time-and-temperature sign in Sherman Oaks.
The quietest comment comes from Riverside. Its writer gives the day's temperature, is grateful for an air-conditioned home, and thinks of the homeless people downtown and of the animals out in the heat.
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What viewers say
I love California but these summers staying well into autumn, my favorite time of the year, is just beyond ridiculous now. I'm not even excited for spooky cozy season anymore 😢 It just sucks
@FlowersandLaceSee it on YouTubeThe people in Las Vegas and Phoenix are snickering at this "heat wave."
@HeavenGuySee it on YouTubeA lovely low 70’s in Seattle. Looking forward to the LA Chargers game Sunday!
@deirdre108See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- KTLA 5
- Subscribers
- 1,510,000 ▲ 10,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 15,605,163
- Channel views, pace per day
- 1,061,594 (on a normal day: 2,154,442)
- Video published
- October 3, 2026
- Video views so far
- 581,879 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 622,462
The numbers
A weather report on a station that usually counts first days in the thousands, and this one ran past half a million.
💡 Test your knowledge
What are the hot, dry autumn winds that blow from the desert toward the Southern California coast called?
The Santa Ana winds blow from the inland deserts toward the coast, mostly in fall and winter, and are known for heat and fire danger.
