A record-breaking heat wave has baked the West for days -- fueling destructive wildfires and threatening rolling power shutoffs in California -- and it could last even longer due to the effects of a strengthening hurricane along Mexico's Pacific Coast.
Sacramento hit 116 degrees Tuesday, the hottest day on record for the state capital, according to the National Weather Service. Records were also broken all over the Bay Area, with some cities shattering previous daily records by more than 10 degrees.
"We are now heading into the worst part of it -- the risk of outages is real," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a tweet Tuesday, adding that the temperatures in the state are "unprecedented."
The heat wave will be the hottest and longest on record in September for California, he said.
California residents have for days been urged to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher -- despite the heat -- as well as avoid using major appliances, and turn off all unnecessary lights between the hours of 4 p.m. and 9 p.m.
That continued Wednesday, as the California Independent System Operator, which manages most of the state's power grid, issued a Flex Alert for the 8th consecutive day, calling on residents to conserve power as operators anticipate peak demand to reach 51,211 megawatts.
Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation's largest utility, has notified about 525,000 customers to prepare for potential rotating outages.
The California Independent System Operator issued an emergency alert for Tuesday evening, saying grid conditions had worsened and energy supplies were insufficient to cover demand. The alert was lifted hours later and the operator thanked "consumer conservation."
While relief was expected Thursday, the oppressive heat is now expected to last through at least Friday.
Hurricane Kay will bring strong rains and high winds to the Mexican coast, but far from its center, the storm will also dictate the weather pattern for Southern California.
Kay will still be about 220 miles south of San Diego on Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, but the flow around the storm will bring easterly winds to the area, which could bring extreme heat all the way down to the beaches.
The weather service in San Diego extended the excessive heat warning for the region through Friday to account for the possibility of high temperatures well into the 90s to 100 reaching the coast.broken
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