Though not a record-breaker, Fresno’s heat is on, as next week’s temperatures will rise

Arianna Lopez Vasquez found out she was two months pregnant last week -- when she suffered from heat stroke and was taken into a local hospital.

The 30-year-old Lopez Vasquez, who has been homeless for about a year, is now bearing a high-risk pregnancy. The hot weather only adds another layer of danger for her and her expecting child, she said Wednesday, camped out in the area across from the Poverello House between G and Santa Clara streets.

“I was walking and I don’t remember anything,” she said of when she suffered from heat stroke and was taken to the Community Regional Medical Center, where she was surprised to find out she is pregnant. “I drank a lot of water, but it didn’t matter. It’s the heat, you sweat it out,” she said.

The heat isn’t expected to let up for folks like Lopez Vasquez who are outdoors. Hence, the National Weather Service predicts temperatures are expected to rise mid-next week after dropping this coming weekend.

Jim Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford, said Fresno hasn’t broken any heat records thus far in recent days. The National Weather Service’s website listed temperature at 106 Wednesday, also well under the record of 111 degrees in 1899. The temperature on Tuesday reached 106 degrees, well under the record temperature of 114 in 1925.

Temperatures are forecast to reach 103 degrees on Thursday, below the record of 112 degrees in 2009. “As you can see, we are not even close,” he said. It will even get cooler during the weekend, when temperatures will drop to 99 degrees on Saturday and 100 on Sunday.

However, next Wednesday, temperatures are expected to reach 107 degrees, he said. “We are really keeping an eye on the middle of next week,” he said. “We are trending upward at that point.”

It’s not only the heat that can cause health problems for those outside during the summertime. Cassandra Melching, with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, said when heat increases the air quality worsens. The Ferguson Fire, west of Yosemite National Park, has played a role in the formation of ozone pollution, she said.

When a level 4 is in place, people should limit their outdoor time. “In the summertime, the ozone becomes our dominant pollutant and it becomes an issue when we have a triple digit” temperature, she said.

For example, the ozone levels in all of the Central Valley, including Fresno, reached an unhealthy level 4 on Tuesday evening. A level 4 puts the public as a whole at risk, Melching said. Typically, the ozone levels in Fresno will stay at a level 1 and 2. On Wednesday, Fresno as a whole did not reach a level 4, hovering at level 3.

Parlier was the only regional city to stay at level 4 late Wednesday, while Visalia ranked at level 4 during peak hours, but later dropped back to level 3. If people see smoke and ash, they should treat that as a level 4, and avoid outdoor activity, Melching said. The various cooling centers throughout the city of Fresno were closed Wednesday as they only open when temperatures reach at least 105 degrees, according to city officials.

“We had to set a standard,” said Shaun Schaefer, community services manager for the city’s parks department, adding that they believe 105 degrees or hotter would be classified as extreme heat. There are also seven city hot meal programs for seniors throughout the city, which can also be used to stay cool, and are open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for people 60 and older, Schaefer said.

Homeless seniors, who meet the age criteria, can also utilize those locations to stay in an air-conditioned place and avoid the heat, but they must adhere to the code of conduct, he said. Now that Lopez Vasquez is pregnant, she expects to take part in a short-term housing program, so she doesn’t have to be out in the streets.

Kathy Cabral, 56, also homeless, and a few years shy of being eligible to utilize one of the seven locations for seniors, said there are not many options to stay cool when the cooling centers are only open when it’s 105 degrees outside.

Making shade on their own and finding iced-water is the only best option. “It’s miserable out here,” she said.

This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 4:50 PM.