The Dove Fire, burning in the Central Sierra foothills near Sonora, forced road closures and evacuations of hundreds of homes last weekend, shaking Californians out of what had otherwise been a relatively calm summer for wildfires. Cal Fire investigators believe the blaze was sparked by a reckless 30-year-old man.

John Buckley, a former U.S. Forest Service firefighter who now leads the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, said he wasn’t shocked when the fire erupted. Driving through the region earlier that day, he had already warned his wife that the vegetation looked primed to ignite.

“We drive back, and they’re burning over at the city of Sonora,” Buckley recalled. “The fuels are now quite primed for burning, and they’re only going to get drier.”

Crews have since gained control of the 226-acre fire, but forecasters are warning of dangerously high temperatures in the days ahead — and new scientific research suggests that heat waves and wildfire activity are closely linked across the American West.

It’s still early in California’s fire year, and experts caution against drawing sweeping conclusions. Yet the state’s numbers stand out compared to the destruction unfolding elsewhere. Wildfires have scorched millions of acres this year in Oregon, Canada and parts of Europe, while California has recorded roughly 4,030 fires burning just over 208,000 acres — well below the five-year average of about 5,300 fires and 300,000 acres burned by this point in the season, according to Cal Fire data.

Even so, Cal Fire Battalion Chief David Acuña said he steers clear of calling the season “quiet.”

“There is a superstition that when you use words like ‘quiet, slow, bored’ in the fire station, that just means that you’re about to get hit with an amazingly busy shift,” Acuña said.

John Abatzoglou, a climatology professor at UC Merced, said California has largely benefited from favorable weather patterns this year, despite a thin snowpack and an unusually hot March. That streak of good fortune, he said, is about to be tested.

“Now, of course, we have a heat wave on our doorstep,” Abatzoglou said.

National Weather Service offices throughout the state are forecasting a sharp rise in temperatures beginning later this week. The Los Angeles/Oxnard office said conditions are expected to turn “dangerously hot” by Friday.

That pairing of extreme heat and fire risk is a familiar pattern across the West, according to a study Abatzoglou co-authored, published in the journal Science Advances and led by researcher Dmitri Kalashnikov. The study found that nearly half of all wildfire acreage burned during warm-season months between 2001 and 2024 occurred during or immediately following a heat wave, particularly in forested regions.

Heat waves — defined as three or more consecutive days with temperatures in the top 10% for the season — currently account for only about 15% or less of the warm season. But climate change is driving their frequency upward, researchers say.

Abatzoglou pointed to several reasons heat and fire go hand in hand. Prolonged heat dries out vegetation, making it more flammable. It also raises nighttime temperatures, which earlier research has linked to more intense overnight fire behavior — eliminating a key window firefighters typically rely on to gain ground. Heat waves can also set the stage for lightning strikes, which have ignited some of the largest fires in California history.

“And then it’s off to the races in terms of fire activity,” Abatzoglou said.

He emphasized that not every heat wave will trigger a fire surge — an ignition still has to occur at the right place and time. But Acuña urged residents to avoid providing that spark. That means avoiding yard work, especially mowing, during the hottest parts of the day or when a red flag warning is in effect, securing tow chains so they don’t drag and throw sparks on pavement, and never parking a hot vehicle on dry grass.

Following the Dove Fire, California requested and received federal emergency assistance within hours. However, a separate and more prolonged dispute between state and federal officials continues over wildfire recovery funding, including hundreds of millions of dollars tied to last year’s devastating Los Angeles fires. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in May that FEMA had yet to release those funds.

As for what the rest of the fire season might bring, Acuña said he’s just as reluctant to make predictions as he is to use the word “quiet.”

“It depends on what the weather brings us,” he said. “If it brings us hot, windy, red flag warning conditions, then that could certainly be a problem. If it brings us rain, well, that brings us a totally different concern. We are ready to respond.”

Original source: CalMatters

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The decision comes as another punishing heat wave grips much of the state, underscoring the real-world stakes of the debate. In rural areas, losing electricity can also mean losing access to water, since many wells rely on electric pumps. In cities, going without air conditioning or fans during a prolonged hot spell can pose serious health risks, and in extreme cases, prove fatal.

More than a year ago, the California Public Utilities Commission determined that existing safeguards against shutoffs during extreme heat were inadequate and directed the state’s largest utilities to come up with stronger rules. But when those companies submitted their proposal in December, regulators found it did little to change the status quo.

In a unanimous 4-0 vote Thursday, commissioners rejected the utilities’ plan, saying it failed to provide “sufficient health protections for customers.” The panel had originally set May 1 as the deadline for new rules to take effect. When utilities missed that deadline, consumer advocates filed emergency motions demanding action.

With the latest heat wave bearing down on California, the commission responded by lowering the temperature threshold at which utilities must halt shutoffs for unpaid bills, from 100 degrees to 90 degrees. Regulators also ordered utilities to adopt a more precise, region-specific heat standard within six months.

The fight over how to define dangerous heat dates back two years, to what was recorded as California’s hottest July on record. During that scorching stretch, the consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network asked the commission to reconsider its definition of extreme heat, arguing in an emergency petition that heat kills more people directly than any other weather-related hazard.

Existing rules already barred utilities from shutting off residential power over nonpayment when forecasts called for temperatures above 100 degrees within a 72-hour window. But advocates argued that a single statewide threshold ignored how differently Californians experience heat depending on where they live.

Regulators declined to treat the request as an emergency at the time, but did direct utilities to develop a revised threshold in coordination with consumer advocates and other stakeholders.

Utilities responded by proposing to use CalHeatScore, a newly developed state tool that rates heat risk by ZIP code on a scale of 0 to 4, drawing on local health data and historical impacts, along with factors such as proximity to cooling centers and the presence of children and older residents, who tend to be more vulnerable to extreme heat.

The sticking point: utilities wanted the shutoff protection to kick in only at Level 3 on that scale, a higher bar than advocates sought, and wanted to keep the 100-degree threshold as a backup whenever the index data wasn’t available. Consumer groups pushed back, calling for protections to begin at the lower Level 2 and for a backup threshold of 90 degrees instead.

Utilities said they couldn’t meet the original deadline because the CalHeatScore data system, managed by the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, wasn’t yet ready to support their compliance. Advocates countered that utilities offered little justification for insisting on keeping the higher 100-degree cutoff.

By May, with utilities still lagging, The Utility Reform Network joined forces with the San Diego-based Utility Consumers’ Action Network, the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Accessible Technology to formally ask the commission to step in.

This week, regulators sided decisively with consumer advocates, rejecting the utilities’ approach as essentially unchanged from prior practice. The commission’s resolution noted that the extreme-heat threshold already sits below 100 degrees in 41 of California’s 58 counties.

A 90-degree day might be unremarkable in dry inland cities such as Bakersfield or Fresno, but that same temperature can pose unusual danger in coastal or mountain communities, where fewer homes have air conditioning and residents are less acclimated to heat. In San Francisco, for instance, extreme heat is defined as anything above 85 degrees. In Del Norte County, in the state’s far northwest corner, the threshold is any temperature above 76.8 degrees, according to the commission.

“A single temperature threshold is needed to better protect residents in areas of the state that are not accustomed to high temperatures,” the commission wrote in its ruling.

Although utilities had pushed for narrower protections, company representatives now say they intend to comply fully with the stricter standard. Last December, the state’s major private electric providers jointly argued that expanding protections to cover lower heat-index levels would trigger shutoffs too frequently, increase unpaid customer debt and add costs without a corresponding health benefit. In a January filing, according to a PG&E spokesperson, the companies described the 90-degree threshold as overly broad.

These protections apply only to shutoffs triggered by nonpayment. They do not prevent outages caused by equipment failures, wildfire prevention shutoffs or other emergencies. Still, advocates say the safeguards matter enormously for vulnerable households.

“When a home loses power, it can set off a cascade of problems for tenants,” said Jason Zeller, an attorney with the Utility Consumers’ Action Network. “Without electricity, tenants can face eviction, and if they have children, they can even risk losing custody.”

Ahead of Thursday’s vote, all three major utilities said they were prepared to fall in line with the commission’s new standards. Southern California Edison said the resolution would strengthen protections during extreme heat events and that it was ready to revise its disconnection policies. San Diego Gas & Electric said it supported the added safety measures and would implement whatever final requirements the commission adopted.

“At PG&E, service disconnection is always a last resort, used only after multiple attempts to reach customers and offer payment plans and assistance programs,” said company spokesperson Adrienne Moore. Region-specific rules are expected to be finalized within six months.

The commission’s independent Public Advocates Office had pushed for stronger protections throughout the process, formally opposing the utilities’ original plan. Office director Linda Serizawa said the vote would give consumers protection “that kicks in when they need it most.”

Original source: CalMatters

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The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to drop the shutoff-protection trigger from 100 degrees to 90 degrees, rejecting a competing proposal favored by utility companies. That plan would have set a higher cutoff tied to CalHeatScore, a newly developed state index that rates heat risk by ZIP code, while keeping the 100-degree threshold as a fallback in areas without index data.

Consumer advocates had pushed hard for the lower threshold, arguing that a wider safety net is especially critical for residents in rural communities, where a power outage can also mean losing access to water pumps and air conditioning or fans needed to stay safe during dangerous heat.

For Inland Empire and Southern California residents, where summer temperatures regularly climb into the 90s and above, the rule change means more days when utilities cannot legally disconnect service over unpaid bills, giving vulnerable households additional protection during the hottest stretches of the year.

The commission’s decision comes as state leaders continue to grapple with the broader effects of extreme heat, including on the youngest Californians. Two new state laws targeting school heat safety underscore the same concern that is driving utility policy: protecting people, especially those with fewer resources, from the physical toll of rising temperatures.

Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation directing the state board of education to consider adding heat-illness education to school curricula. The law does not require schools to act, but backers say it lays important groundwork. Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Palmdale Republican who authored the bill, said the measure “promotes awareness and prevention” and arms students with “the knowledge to protect themselves” when temperatures spike.

A separate law passed in 2024 required school districts statewide to have heat-safety plans in place by July 1 of this year. Those plans must outline alternatives to outdoor activities, such as moving practices or recess indoors, when extreme heat hits. The July 1 deadline marked a key milestone for districts working to formalize their response to increasingly common heat events.

Still, critics note that neither law comes with dedicated funding, meaning schools are not required to invest in the kind of physical upgrades, such as improved air conditioning systems or added shade structures, that many advocates say are ultimately necessary to keep students safe as heat waves intensify.

Together, the utility shutoff rules and the new school heat laws reflect a broader shift in how California is confronting climate-driven heat risk, treating it not just as a summer inconvenience but as a public health and safety issue that touches everything from utility bills to the school day.

Original source: CalMatters

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RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Dangerously hot conditions are in the forecast for Riverside County Wednesday but cooler temperatures are in the forecast for the next few days.

Record temperatures were reported in parts of Riverside County on Sunday and Monday.

The low in Palm Springs was 86 on Monday, breaking the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day of 85 set in 2023. The low in Borrego was 84, tying the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day set in 1999.

It was 110 in Riverside on Sunday, breaking the record for the day of 109 set in 1944.

The low in Riverside on Sunday was 80, breaking the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day of 75 set in 2022. The low temperature in Lake Elsinore was 74, tying the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day set in 2022.

Palm Springs reached 112 on Tuesday, but some relief was expected after that, with a high of 102 forecast for Wednesday and 97 for Thursday.

Downtown Riverside was 106 Monday, before dropping to 87 by Wednesday.

Indio’s high of 110 on Sunday and was expected to rise to 110 on Tuesday before dropping to 105 Wednesday and 99 Thursday.

An air quality alert was issued Saturday night until Monday evening for the Riverside County valleys and mountains, including the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Crestline and Idyllwild-Pine Cove. Forecasters said the heat wave and elevated particle pollution levels due to smoke from a San Bernardino County wildfire resulted in high levels of smog and ozone air pollution.

The hot, dry weather was creating elevated fire conditions across the mountains, valleys and deserts.

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Officials with Cal Fire Riverside County said Soboba and Gilman Springs roads on Sunday around 2 p.m. The area is adjacent to the Golden Era Golf Course in the San Jacinto area. 

The fire, being called the “Record Fire,” had reached 517 acres with 65% containment as of Monday evening, officials with CAL Fire said. 

“Helicopters will actively support ground crews by conducting water drops to cool down hot spots and slow the fire’s spread. However, with extreme heat in the area, with temperatures expected to reach near 110°F, conditions remain challenging. The high temperatures and dry conditions will make firefighting efforts more difficult,” fire authorities said on social media. 

Amid the blazing temperatures, six firefighters were treated for what authorities described as “minor medical symptoms.” 

“Overnight, the fire exhibited minimal growth, allowing firefighters to make significant progress in increasing containment. Firefighters will continue to work throughout the day, strengthening containment lines and addressing any remaining hotspots,” fire authorities said in an update Monday morning. 

Evacuation Warning

Evacuation warnings were issued in the area earlier in the week, but had been lifted by Tuesday night.

“Please use caution when returning to the area as fire resources continue working to fully contain the fire,” CAL Fire said. 

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It will be in effect from 10 a.m. Saturday to 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Forecasters cautioned that “dangerously hot conditions” will prevail, and residents should be alert to exposure impacts, including dehydration and heat stroke.

Meanwhile, temperatures were forecast to continue topping 100 degrees through next week after soaring into the triple digits throughout the Inland Empire on Friday.

“Temperatures are anywhere from a few degrees to as much as 12 degrees higher than Thursday,” the NWS said in a statement. “Temperatures will be on a general upward trend (going into early next week).”

A ridge of high pressure backing westward over the Four Corners region will influence weather patterns in the area through the weekend and into the start of the upcoming week, keeping conditions hot and dry.

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The Bluff Fire was first reported around noon and, as of 2:30 p.m., had charred an estimated 40 acres of “light, flashy fuels,” according to CAL FIRE.

Several aircraft assisted ground firefighting crews from Riverside County and the San Bernardino National Forest. Afternoon high temperatures in the region soared into the upper 90s amid a prolonged heat wave that has gripped California for over a week.

At about 2:40 p.m., CAL FIRE said the fire was 20% contained at 50 acres, and crews had stopped its forward progress.

The evacuation warning included the Banning bench area north of Sunnyslope Cemetery, west of Hathaway Canyon Road and east of Bluff Street (map). An evacuation center was established at Banning Senior Center at 769 N. San Gorgonio Ave.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Banning is 85 miles east of Los Angeles in the San Gorgonio Pass.

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The whirling air currents deepened and extended the marine layer farther inland into coastal valleys, helping temperatures drop about 10 degrees below Friday’s, said Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. The slightly cooler weather is expected to continue until midweek.

The cooling trend prompted the Weather Service to call off excessive-heat advisories and warnings in many of the coastal valleys, but they remained in place for deserts, mountains and the Santa Clarita Valley, he said.

Temperatures in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys had been expected to range from the mid-90s to a high of 105 degrees, but fell below that on Saturday.

Chatsworth hit a high of 92 degrees on Saturday, down from 109 degrees Friday; Saugus cooled down to 100 degrees from 118 the previous day; and Woodland Hills dropped to 96 from 106 in that period. Palm Springs also cooled to 114 degrees Saturday, down 10 degrees from Friday.

Downtown Los Angeles hit 87 degrees Saturday, about the same as its high on Friday.

But broiling heat shattered records in other areas Saturday. Palmdale tied its all-time record of 115 degrees. Death Valley set a new record for July 6 with a high of 128 degrees.

Extreme heat, low humidity and strong winds prompted officials to issue a red flag warning through the weekend along the 5 Freeway corridor and in the Antelope Valley foothills, said Joe Sirard, another National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

“Fires are dangerous anywhere, but this is really a heightened danger,” he said, adding that blazes in these conditions “will spread rapidly — explosively — and it’s extremely dangerous for firefighters.”

Hampered by scorching temperatures, crews continued to battle numerous wildfires across California on Saturday. The largest is the Basin fire in Fresno County, which started June 26. The fire, which had burned 14,027 acres, was 60% contained Saturday afternoon.

Crews were beginning to get the upper hand on the French fire, which began on the Fourth of July and had threatened the town of Mariposa outside Yosemite National Park. The 908-acre fire, which temporarily triggered mandatory evacuations and closed State Route 140 leading into the park, was 35% contained on Saturday.

In Southern California, the Lake fire in Santa Barbara County swelled to 12,271 acres late Saturday afternoon with zero containment, officials said. The blaze, near Zaca Lake in the Santa Ynez Valley, triggered an evacuation order early Saturday for an area north of Zaca Lake Road, east of Foxen Canyon Road and south of the Sisquoc River.

Temperatures in the 90s and very low humidity overnight Friday fueled the fire’s spread, while a layer of warm air trapped its smoke close to the ground, Scott Safechuck, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said in a post on the social media platform X.

Farther south, the Rancho fire, which was reported Friday evening, burned about 13 acres of brush along the 101 Freeway near Thousand Oaks.

Andy VanSciver, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department, said in a video posted on X that the Rancho fire had been contained as of around 7 p.m. Friday. After stopping its forward progress, firefighters worked overnight to extinguish hot spots, he said.

In Riverside County, firefighters managed to get control of the 70-acre Hills fire near Juniper Springs, with 75% containment as of Saturday afternoon.

Authorities evacuated an area close to the fire after it broke out Friday afternoon near Juniper Flats Road and Mapes Road in Homeland. People affected by the evacuations were directed to Tahquitz High School in Hemet and the Riverside County Animal Shelter in San Jacinto.

Two fires east of Apple Valley and a small blaze near UC Riverside broke out on Saturday; the latter was soon 50% contained, according to CalFire.

Meanwhile, residents of Los Angeles County’s valleys and inland areas are urged to stay indoors during the day if possible and avoid hiking, even in areas that might seem cool at sea level.

“Even in the Santa Monica Mountains, which are close to the coast, once you get above a certain elevation, 1,500 feet, it’s going to get very, very hot,” Sirard said.

He said people should follow commonsense practices such as hydrating through the day and wearing lightweight and light-colored clothing. Sirard recommended that those who want to get some sun head to the beaches, where temperatures should range from the low 70s to the low 80s.

“If people want to beat the heat this weekend,” he said, “the coast is the place to go.”

The city of Los Angeles has four cooling centers open through the weekend where people can find relief from the heat:

• Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, 11075 Foothill Blvd., Lake View Terrace
• Mid-Valley Senior Citizen Center, 8825 Kester Ave., Panorama City
• Fred Roberts Recreation Center, 4700 S. Honduras St., Los Angeles
• Jim Gilliam Recreation Center, 400 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles

Los Angeles County has a network of more than 150 cooling centers, including libraries, parks and community centers, all listed here.

In the Bay Area, cool weather along the coast gave way Saturday to blistering heat in northern Sonoma and Napa counties, where temperatures were expected to climb to 110 degrees, said Nicole Sarment, a Weather Service meteorologist in San Francisco.

“There’s as much as a 50-degree variation, depending on where you are,” she said.

San Francisco was forecast to see a high of 79 degrees Saturday before dipping to 58 at night, she said. In Oakland, temperatures were expected to range from 59 to 87 degrees, while San Jose was predicted to see a low of 64 and high of 99.

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The temperature in Death Valley National Park could skyrocket to 130 degrees next week, the National Weather Service is reporting.

If it eclipses 130 degrees, it will set the record for the hottest temperature ever “reliably measured on earth,” according to Scientific American.

Chris Outler, a forecaster with the weather service’s Las Vegas office, which predicts weather in Death Valley, said there’s a 20% chance the park will hit 130 degrees Monday and Tuesday.

“The threshold is certainly not out of the realm of possibility,” Outler told USA TODAY.

On Wednesday, the high in Death Valley was expected to reach 122 degrees, the weather service said.

Over the next week, the temperature is expected to creep higher, Outler said, and is expected to top out as follows:

• Friday: 124 degrees
• Saturday: 127 degrees
• Sunday: 129 degrees
• Monday: 130 degrees (20% chance)
• Tuesday: 130 degrees (20% chance)

Coachella Valley also feeling the heat

About 300 miles south, in Coachella Valley, residents may see 11 straight days with temperatures of 115 degrees or higher, the Desert Sun, part of the USA TODAY Network is reporting. According to weather service, that would break the former record of nine days of temperatures of at least 115 degrees set in 2021.

The all-time record high for Palm Springs is 123 degrees, recorded June 17, 2021.

Forecasters say there is a 14% chance of matching that record on Friday.

The chances increase on Saturday, with a 20% chance of breaking the 123-degree record. The probability of an all-time record high on Saturday is 8%.

In the Central Valley, the city of Fresno is forecasted to reach 115 on Saturday, tying a record for that day.

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CALIFORNIA —A heat wave baked the Golden State over the weekend, causing emergency room visits to spike in parts of Southern California.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention heat health tracker data, which was updated Saturday, shows “extremely high” rates of heat-related illnesses across California. The data, based on a scale of per 100,000 visits, showed emergency room visits that exceeded the 95th percentile of what is typical.

In the Health and Human Services region that includes California, Arizona and Nevada, emergency room visits went from 204 per 100,000 residents on June 17 to 881 on Sunday.

However, despite the first heatwave of the summer, temperatures have been milder than usual, which is consistent with climate forecasts that called for a mild start to the summer followed by an above-average finish to the season. The historically hottest months are yet to come in California, and they are expected to be blistering throughout the state.

According to the Weather Channel, August will be the hottest month for the entire state.

Most of the state was under minor to no heat risk on Monday, according to the CDC, including San Francisco, San Diego, Riverside, Sonoma, Alameda and San Bernadino Counties. Los Angeles, Orange and Sacramento Counties were under moderate heat risk, meaning it was an okay day to be outside for most people.

The Central Valley, however, raised to a Major heat risk on Monday, which can lead to health impacts for everyone, the CDC said.

The National Weather Service said most of the areas hardest hit by the heat wave will begin to see relief Monday, but stifling conditions will continue in the Southeast and Southern Plains.

Temperatures along the coast remained comfortable and in the low 70s in San Francisco and Alameda in Northern California and in the high 70s in Manhattan Beach and Ventura in Southern California. Temperatures in Southern California reached over 90 degrees in Riverside and up to 106 in Palm Desert.

In the United States, extreme heat kills more people than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters. More than 2,300 Americans died of heat-related illnesses last year, the most in 45 years of record-keeping, according to the CDC. That’s up from about 1,700 heat-related deaths in 2022 and 1,600 in 2021.

People become ill from the heat when their bodies can’t naturally cool off due to a combination of factors, including high humidity. When the humidity is high, sweat doesn’t evaporate as quickly and keeps the body from releasing heat as fast as it may need.

Personal factors such as age, obesity, fever, dehydration, heart disease, mental illness, poor circulation, sunburn, and prescription drug and alcohol use all can affect the ability of the body to naturally cool off.

To avoid heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion, health officials advise people to limit time outdoors if possible during the heat of the day, and be sure to drink plenty of water and wear loose-fitting clothes and a hat.

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