Fresno could see record-breaking temps this weekend. Just how hot will it get?

Fresno is on the front end of a searing heat wave that will likely see a weekend worth of 110-plus degree temperatures, with little overnight relief.

The National Weather Service has declared an excessive heat warning for the bulk of Central California and is predicting afternoon highs topping out at 113 degrees. Nightly lows are expected in the low-to-mid 80s, higher than the season norms.

That combination is what makes a heat wave dangerous and gives this heat wave some extra clout, says Andy Bollenbacher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Hanford.

“People can literally not recover from the heat,” he says.

The Fresno County Department of Public Health reminded residents to take precautions.

“We want to make sure everyone stays cool, hydrated, and safe over the next several days,” EMS Director Dan Lynch said in a statement.

“Extreme heat events can be dangerous to health, and even fatal. These events result in increased hospital admissions for heat related illness, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. It’s important that everyone remembers to check on their neighbors and pets often.”

This will be the worst heat wave of the year and is the worst Bollenbacher can remember since he started working with the Weather Service in 2018.

2006 set the standard for heat waves

But it is not unprecedented.

In July 1898, Fresno had a run of six days of temperatures above 110 degrees, according to data from the Weather Service. There were five-day runs in July 1905, July 1906 and August 1908.

Then there was July 2006.

“That kind of sets the standard,” Bollenbacher says.

Fresno saw a run of five consecutive days above 112 degrees; three days peaked at 113. Worse yet, the lows were into the 90s, Bollenbacher says, which allowed for little or no overnight cooling.

“It’s pretty vicious for an overnight temperature.”

That heat wave was so intense it actually altered the life cycle of the peach fruit fly and prematurely ended a three-month quarantine that agriculture officials had placed on the pest, according to a story in The Fresno Bee at the time.

The temperatures were also responsible for massive crop and livestock losses. So many animals were dying that Tulare County declared a local emergency that allowed dairy farmers to legally dispose of animal carcasses by burying them instead of having them hauled to a rendering plant.

In Fresno County, it created a public health crisis that taxed emergency rooms and filled the morgue to capacity.

Fresno County reported at least 25 potential heat-related deaths and The Bee carried daily stories on those who died.

“In all my years ... I’ve never seen anything like this,” Coroner Loralee Cervantes said at the time.

The morgue’s refrigerator, designed to hold 50 bodies, was full for at least part of the heat wave and the staff worked around the clock to finish its autopsies and investigations. Two men confirmed to have died of heat stroke had body temperatures of 109.9 degrees when measured at the hospital, according to the coroner at the time.

There have been no heat-related deaths in Fresno so far this year, according to the Fresno County Coroner’s Office.

This story was originally published July 9, 2021 at 12:31 PM.