Fresno-area heat wave arrives: Is it record-breaking? Here’s what forecasters expect
Hot weather in the summertime isn’t exactly unusual for Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley. But when high temperatures are forecast to be hot enough to cause health problems for residents – well, it’s reason to sit up and take notice.
The National Weather Service office in Hanford issued an excessive heat warning that lasts through at least Wednesday night, advising that daily maximum temperatures could reach as high as 112 degrees in the San Joaquin Valley and the hills on the Valley’s west side. In the Sierra Nevada foothills on the Valley’s east flank, high temperatures are forecast to range between 98 and 105 degrees.
Normal maximum daily temperatures for this time of year in Fresno are 97 to 98 degrees. This week brought a four-day stretch of 100-degree-plus temperatures to the Fresno area, broken Thursday when leftover clouds from a Pacific storm held the afternoon high to 95 degrees.
Friday afternoon’s high temperature reached 106 degrees. That was the first of what are forecast to be eight straight days in which NWS meteorologists expected daily maximum temperatures to reach at least 103 degrees in Fresno.
“It is concerning, it is an extended period of time,” said David Luchini, associate director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, in a media briefing Friday afternoon.
“Dangerously hot conditions will occur during the afternoon and early evening hours each day,” forecasters reported Friday. “High temperatures of 102 to 112 degrees can be expected.”
“Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities.”
Afternoon highs in Fresno are expected to reach 107 degrees on Saturday, 107 on Sunday, 106 on Monday, 107 on Tuesday, 106 on Wednesday, 104 on Thursday and 105 next Friday.
The San Joaquin Valley isn’t the only place feeling the heat. The National Weather Service also issued urgent weather messages Friday for excessive heat warnings in the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin/Sacramento Delta, the Los Angeles and San Diego areas and much of the Inland Empire in Southern California, the Central Coast and Bay Area. All of the warnings extend into Wednesday evening.
Cooling centers
Many communities in the central San Joaquin Valley have opened cooling centers to provide refuge to residents who lack air conditioning in their homes. The city of Fresno activated four cooling centers on Friday afternoon, and they will be open from 1 to 7 p.m. daily until further notice.
Fresno’s cooling centers are at the Frank H. Ball Community Center, 760 Mayor Ave. in southwest Fresno; the Ted C. Wills Community Center at 770 N. San Pablo Ave. in central Fresno; the Mosqueda Community Center at 4670 E. Butler Ave. in southeast Fresno; and the Pinedale Community Center at 7170 N. San Pablo Ave. in northwest Fresno.
The city’s FAX buses will provide free rides on their normal routes to and from the cooling centers for residents who tell the driver they are going to a cooling center.
Luchini said that cooling centers are likely to be operating with limited capacity to maintain social distancing because of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, and that centers will be screening people for possible symptoms.
Neighborhood watch
He added that residents are encouraged to check on neighbors who may be senior citizens, low-income or have other vulnerabilities to heat. “Check on them, call them; if they don’t answer the phone, go ring the doorbell or knock on the door” to make sure they’re OK, Luchini said. “We’ve seen in the past that they can overheat very quickly.”
The widespread nature of the heat wave throughout the state prompted the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s power grid, to issue a Flex Alert for Friday afternoon, asking people to reduce their electricity use because of anticipated high demand for power to run air conditioning.
“I suspect this event will probably end up being one of the most significant widespread California extreme heat events in the past decade, if not longer,” said Daniel Swain, a prominent UCLA climatologist. “I expect sustained extreme temperatures of this magnitude to produce widespread human health, wildfire, and electrical power supply impacts. Some of these impacts will undoubtedly be amplified by the ongoing pandemic. This will be an event to take quite seriously.”
A little shy of record highs
As hot as the weather is expected to be over the next few days, the high temperatures in Fresno are not expected to break historic records for maximum daily temperatures – but could come close.
The forecast high temperatures on both Saturday and Sunday in Fresno are forecast to be 107 degrees. That’s two degree shy of the Aug. 15 record of 109 degrees, and three degrees short of the Aug. 16 record of 110 degrees, both set in 1920.
But it doesn’t take record-breaking temperatures to cause health problems.
The heat warning issued by the National Weather Service advises people to “drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.”
“Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible, reschedule strenuous activity to early morning or evening,” the warning continues. “To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned environments.”
The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
