A hurricane that is building along Mexico’s Pacific Coast might prolong the record-breaking heat wave that has been baking the West for days, causing devastating wildfires and endangering rolling power outages in California.
The National Weather Service reports that Sacramento recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday, reaching 116 degrees. All around the Bay Area, records were also shattered, with some cities breaking prior daily records by greater than 10 degrees.
California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted on Tuesday that “we are now entering into the worst portion of it” and added that the state’s temperatures are “unprecedented.”
According to him, California will see its hotter and prolonged heat wave ever in September.
Regardless of the heat, Californians have been advised to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, avoid using large appliances, and turn off any unnecessary lights between the hours of 4 and 9 p.m.
The largest utility company in the country, Pacific Gas & Electric, has warned nearly 525,000 customers to be ready for probable rotating outages.
The majority of the state’s electricity grid is managed by the California Independent System Operator, which on Tuesday night issued an alarm signal due to worsening grid conditions and inadequate power supply to meet demand. After a number of hours, the alarm was canceled, and the operator commended “consumer conservation.”
Although relief was anticipated for the terrible heat on Thursday, it now looks like it will continue at least into Friday.
Although Hurricane Kay will affect Southern California distant from its center, it will still send heavy rainfall and severe gusts to the Mexican shore.
According to National Weather Service in Los Angeles, Kay will still be roughly 220 miles south of San Diego on Friday, but the flow around the storm will bring easterly winds to the region, which could bring extremely hot weather all the right down to the beaches.
To prepare for the likelihood of high temperatures hitting the coast that might reach far into the 90s or 100, the weather service in San Diego extended the excessive heat warning for the area through Friday.
High temperatures break previous records.
The weather agency reports that numerous heat records have been broken throughout the West.
San Francisco airport in California reached 97 degrees on Monday, setting a day record. Salinas broke the previous record of 92 degrees set in 2004 when it reached 103 degrees. Livermore reached a record-breaking 116.
The temperature in Salt Lake City reached 104 on Monday, breaking the old record by 11 days. It was also the 32nd day this year to reach over 100 degrees.
Monday’s high in Billings, Montana, of 100 degrees equaled a previous record. Billings experienced two days in September with temperatures above 100 degrees for the very first time.
According to scientists, heat waves are becoming hotter and more frequent as a result of climate change, which is contributing to the world’s extreme heat.
According to scientists, since pre-industrial times, greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have heated the earth by around 1.2 degrees Celsius. Because of this warmer baseline, higher temperatures can be experienced during extreme heat events.
Wildfires broke out across the West.
Additionally, because of the heat and dryness, fires will spread more faster, rage more fiercely, and burn longer.
Over the past week, a number of deadly wildfires have broken out, with two fires in California killing at least four people and destroying thousands of acres of land in addition to burning homes.
Unhealthy air quality has been brought to sections of the Western states by the flames, which are raging consecutively in dry, drought-stricken territories.
The fires have suffocated the heated environment with smoke.
Images provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that the dense smoke, pouring from many wildfires, is visible from space.
In addition to destroying homes and cars, the fires forced thousands of locals to flee their homes as they engulfed entire neighborhoods and tore through dry vegetation.
On Monday, the fast-moving Fairview Fire spread quickly through dry plants in Southern California, displacing hundreds of residents, and claiming the lives of 2 people. By Tuesday, the fire had consumed 4,500 acres and was just 5% contained.
Two ladies, ages 66 and 73, perished in the Mill Fire in Siskiyou County, to the north, which as of Tuesday night had burnt 4,263 acres and destroyed 98 buildings.
The Mountain Fire, which is also raging in Siskiyou County nearby, has destroyed 11,690 acres.
Authorities reported that 5 days after just being started by lightning, the Cedar Creek Fire in Oregon had burned through 17,625 acres.
In the meantime, the 26,020-acre Ross Fork Fire in Idaho, which started in mid-August, is still burning. Tuesday, the fire was 2% contained by firefighters.
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