California temperatures soar to new records, adding strain to power grid

Crime scene tape barricades the world close to burned automobiles, within the aftermath of the Mill Fireplace, in Weed, California, U.S., September 3, 2022. REUTERS/Fred Greaves/File Picture

Sept 4 (Reuters) – Report excessive temperatures had been anticipated in California’s Central Valley from Sacramento to outdoors of Los Angeles on Sunday, with officers warning that the harmful warmth wave may afflict the state via the top of the week and check the boundaries of the electrical grid.

State officers on Sunday had been urging residents to restrict their energy utilization for the fifth day in a row as power demand spiked and temperatures had been nonetheless on the rise.

The worst of the warmth was concentrated within the Central Valley on Sunday, the place temperatures may climb to 109 levels Fahrenheit. The thermometer may hit 115 levels by midweek, the Nationwide Climate Service mentioned, warning residents to remain indoors to keep away from heat-related sickness.

“The warmth wave begins in earnest as we speak with harmful temperatures now forecast to increase via the top of the week,” Nationwide Climate Service Sacramento wrote on Twitter on Sunday.

The Southern California metropolis of San Diego, which set a file temperature on Saturday of 95 levels, may set one other file on Sunday, Nationwide Climate Service forecaster Tony Fracasso mentioned, though an opportunity of afternoon thunderstorms may provide some reduction.

The California Impartial System Operator (ISO), which oversees the state’s electrical grid, prolonged a “flex alert” to a fifth day, asking state residents to set their thermostats to 78 levels or increased, keep away from utilizing main home equipment, and switch off lights to be able to preserve power.

“Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday specifically are shaping as much as be essentially the most tough of this warmth wave,” the company mentioned in a information launch.

It added that the state’s ongoing wildfires and potential new blazes may additional pressure the ability grid by crippling traces and mills. Greater than 20 years of drought and rising temperatures, exacerbated by local weather change, have made California extra susceptible than ever to wildfires.

In Northern California’s Siskiyou County, the place firefighters had been battling the fast-moving Mill Fireplace that prompted 1000’s to evacuate their properties, the excessive temperature forecast for Sunday was 95 levels. Temperatures had been anticipated to high 100 levels within the coming days. The hearth had burned greater than 4,000 acres and was 25% contained as of Sunday morning, in keeping with the California Division of Forestry and Fireplace Safety.

Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Modifying by Mark Porter

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