- The intense heat is exacerbating wildfire concerns and putting a strain on the electrical grid.
- Notorious hot spot Death Valley could soar to as high as 127 degrees on Saturday.
- Nearly 50 million people from Arizona to Idaho were under excessive heat warnings and watches along with heat advisories.
A dangerous and sweltering heat wave will continue to consume much of the western U.S., especially California on Thursday through the Labor Day weekend, the National Weather Service said.
The intense heat is exacerbating wildfire concerns and putting a strain on the electrical grid.
Temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s and lower 100s will result in widespread daily records each day for much of the region, the Weather Service said.
Notorious hot spot Death Valley could soar as high as 127 degrees on Saturday, AccuWeather said, which would be the hottest September temperature ever recorded on Earth. The hellish location already holds the record for the world’s hottest temperature of 134 degrees, set in 1913.
Other temperature records likely to be broken
Elsewhere, many monthly temperature records are likely to be broken in inland areas of California, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain.
Nearly 50 million people from Arizona to Idaho were under excessive heat warnings and watches along with heat advisories, which probably will continue for the next several days. That includes major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.
“Little to no relief from the heat overnight will only increase the heat stress and create a potentially dangerous situation for sensitive individuals,” the Weather Service warned.
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“This heat may produce a very high risk of heat illness,” the Weather Service in Los Angeles said.
The Capital Weather Gang said, “Close to 38 million people, the vast majority of them in California and Arizona, are predicted to experience highs hitting the century mark in the coming week.”
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AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter said: “The risks associated with this heat wave are even more concerning than other heat waves because this will be happening through the Labor Day weekend, a holiday weekend when many people are spending additional time outdoors and may be less aware of the heat risks.
“The heat wave will be notable due to its persistence – day after day of extreme heat with temperatures, in some locations such as California’s capital of Sacramento, near or exceeding 110 degrees for three or more days in a row,” Porter said.
“Extreme caution” is advised for people who go outdoors, the Weather Service in Sacramento said.
Wildfire, power concerns
Wildfires and power outages were high on the list of concerns among California officials on Thursday.
In California, wildfires chewed through rural areas north of Los Angeles and east of San Diego, racing through bone-dry brush and prompting evacuations.
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In northwestern Los Angeles County, the intense Route Fire near Castaic raged through more than 8 square miles of hills containing scattered houses late Wednesday. Traffic was snarled on Interstate 5, a major north-south route running through the fire area. Containment was estimated at 12% Thursday morning.
One structure had been destroyed and 550 remained threatened, the Los Angeles Times said, adding that “no civilian casualties were reported, but seven firefighters were injured.”
State officials hope to avoid rolling blackouts by asking residents to voluntarily use less power, even as the heat tempts Californians to crank up their air conditioners.
“One of the big unknowns in this (whether blackouts will happen) is that we also expect wildfires,” said Daniel Kammen, an energy professor at the University of California, Berkeley: “And wildfires will cause us to have to shut down certain transmission lines, de-energizing them to prevent wildfires.
“Then we could get into a situation where those rolling brownouts, we call them, when they’re scheduled, we tell people in advance. But right now, none of them are anticipated,” Kammen told USA TODAY.
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Contributing: Celina Tebor, USA TODAY; the Associated Press