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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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A record heat wave put California in a fossil fuel conundrum: The state has had to rely more heavily on natural gas to produce electricity and avoid power outages while Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration moves toward ending the use of oil and gas.

The heat wave that started more than a week ago has been hotter and longer than any other in the state, and it put unprecedented strain on power supplies. That prompted Newsom to plead with people to use less power to avoid rolling blackouts — a practice that involves cutting some people’s power to save energy so the lights can stay on for everyone else.

The effort worked, but meeting the state’s heightened energy demand also required activating generators fueled by natural gas, which is still a major part of the state’s power picture. The Democratic governor’s calls for conservation also drew criticism about new state policies governing electric vehicles and other measures that will only increase energy demand.

Newsom, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said the “pretty extreme” circumstances required the state to turn to more natural gas as a backup supply.

“We all want to accelerate the elimination of the gas, but it’s a sober reminder of reality,” he said.

Tuesday’s demand for 52,000 megawatts set a record, as triple-digit temperatures blanketed much of the state. Sacramento hit a record high of 116 degrees (47 degrees Celsius), and normally cooler places like San Francisco and San Diego also reached sizzling temperatures.

Demand will only climb in the years ahead. By 2045, when the state is mandated to get all of its electricity from non-carbon or renewable sources, demand is expected to be as high as 78,000 megawatts due to more electric home appliances and cars on the road, according California Energy Commission estimates.

To meet that demand, both the government and major utilities like Pacific Gas & Electric are working to scale up renewable sources such as solar and wind power, as well as large-scale batteries that can store that power for use at night. The California Public Utilities Commission last year ordered utilities to procure enough additional power for 2.5 million homes by 2026.

Newsom just signed legislation aimed at keeping the state’s last nuclear plant open for five years beyond its planned 2025 closure, and he suggested Wednesday that the plant could run even longer if needed.

The sun is typically the state’s biggest power source during the day. But as the hot weather arrived, natural gas surpassed renewables for more time over the past week, according to the California Independent System Operator, which is responsible for managing and maintaining reliability on the state’s power grid.

Gas was the primary energy source all day on Tuesday — the expected peak of the brutal temperatures.

Meanwhile, on Monday the state for the first time turned on four gas-powered generators to add more supply, enough to power 120,000 homes. It planned to rely on some diesel-powered generators as well.

But some of the state’s fossil-fuel plants have their own reliability problems. Several power plants, including aging gas-fired ones along California’s coast, partially broke down or produced less energy than planned, according to the ISO.

Four of the plants, which suck up ocean water to cool down their equipment, were slated to close in 2020, but the state has continually extended their lives to help stabilize the power supply. They now plan to stay open until at least 2023, but they could last even longer under legislation Newsom signed in June.

If the state wants to keep the old coastal gas-powered plants online beyond 2023, it needs to give the companies that own them more certainty about the future so they can decide whether to spend money to maintain them, said Siva Gunda, vice chairman of the California Energy Commission, the state’s energy planning agency.

“Everything has to be moved forward at full throttle” with the “ambitious aim” that cleaner energy sources make up most of the state’s power reserves, he said.

The intensity of the heat wave only emphasizes the need for California to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible, he said.

The grid challenges also provided plenty of fodder for Newsom’s political critics, who have argued that Democrats’ policies to move away from oil and gas don’t add up.

The state recently adopted new regulations aimed at ending the sale of most new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035. But during the heat wave, officials also urged people not to charge cars or use other large appliances at night. The state has not banned car charging, but instead urged people to do so during the day.

“Gavin Newsom — You have to buy an electric car. Also Gavin Newsom — But you can’t charge it,” Republican state Sen. Melissa Melendez tweeted Tuesday evening after the state sent out an emergency wireless alert urging people to reduce power use.

Environmental groups say planning failures led California to rely on natural gas — and even ramp up its use — during the heat wave. The state needs to set clearer goals and benchmarks to meet its clean energy targets and ensure that fossil fuels aren’t used as a backup, said Ari Eisenstadt, campaign manager for Regenerate California, a campaign aimed at ending fossil fuel use in the state.

“Folks have been talking about natural gas as a bridge for decades,” he said. “And if it were truly a bridge, we would have crossed it by now.”

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CASTAIC, Calif. (AP) — California firefighters worked in extreme conditions Thursday as they battled wildfires in rural areas north of Los Angeles and east of San Diego amid a blistering heat wave that is predicted to last through Labor Day.

Progress was made in containing both blazes but authorities warned that the explosive fire behavior that occurred after they erupted Wednesday showed the potential for what could happen during the prolonged torrid conditions.

“The days ahead are going to be challenging,” said Angeles National Forest Fire Chief Robert Garcia, one of the commanders of the battle against the Route Fire near the Interstate 5 community of Castaic in northwestern Los Angeles County.

The Route Fire was 12% contained after scorching more than 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) and destroying a house. Traffic on the major north-south interstate, a key route for big rigs, was jammed due to lane closures.

Temperatures in the area hit 107 degrees (42 Celsius) on Wednesday.

Seven firefighters had to be taken to hospitals with heat injuries, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Deputy Chief Thomas Ewald.

All were released, Ewald said, adding that he expected more heat emergencies.

Temperatures in much of California were so high that Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency and the state power grid operator asked residents to voluntarily reduce use of electricity during critical afternoon and evening hours.

After strong work by ground crews and helicopters and airplanes dropping water and fire retardant on the Route Fire, authorities planned to lift evacuation orders for a mobile home park and other homes, Ewald said.

“The big thing today is all about boxing the fire in,” he said.

In eastern San Diego County, the Border 32 Fire was 5% contained after swiftly growing to more than 6 square miles (15.5 square kilometers), the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The fire burned at least four buildings, including a house, and prompted evacuations for some 400 homes in the Dulzura area near the U.S.-Mexico border. State routes in the area were closed and a school district called off Thursday’s classes.

There were “multiple close calls” as residents rushed to flee, said Cal Fire Capt. Thomas Shoots.

“We had multiple 911 calls from folks unable to evacuate” because their homes were surrounded by the fire, Shoots told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed the Tecate port of entry with Mexico hours early Wednesday night because of the fire and said it wouldn’t reopen until conditions improved. Travelers could still use the 24-hour Otay Mesa crossing.

Wildfires have sprung up this summer throughout the Western states. The largest and deadliest blaze in California so far this year erupted in July in Siskyou County. It killed four people and destroyed much of the small community of Klamath River.

Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

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Teviston, a rural community in the San Joaquin Valley’s Turea County, has been struggling since early June when the only functioning well stopped working. Since then, the more than 700 residents there have been without running water.

During a virtual conference that addressed the area’s drought on Monday, Teviston Community Services District board member Frank Galaviz said sand in the well’s pump is believed to be the likely culprit of it breaking down. Galaviz told The Fresno Bee in an interview that the town could still be weeks away from having running water restored to households, as the well’s pump still needs essential parts for repair. For residents, he said surviving is “day-to-day.”

In the meantime, the people of Teviston have been relying on bottled water and on friends and family from neighboring communities. Galaviz said another looming concern is that he fears the well might have dried up. The district has been providing bottled water and five-gallon jugs to town residents. Tanker trucks deliver water from a town located 23 miles away to fill Teviston’s two water storage tanks.

“It’s just barely enough, and in some cases, not enough. Some families are larger than others,” Galaviz said. A temporary pump was also recently installed, though it reportedly only provides enough water pressure for some residents to flush their toilets.

Teviston Water Board Director Martin Correa spoke with Fresno’s KFSN-TV about the temporary pump. “It is not enough pressure from what we are usually used to getting, but our focus is to get water to the community and residents,” Correa said.

California’s State Water Board is in the process of building a modern well for Teviston, which Galaviz said during the virtual conference is expected to be finished by 2022 or 2023. He called for expediting the funding to finish the well, and also suggested the possibility of incorporating Teviston with nearby town Pixley to share its water system.

Teviston has experienced well failures before, with the most recent large-scale outage occurring in 2017. At the time, Teviston received state funding for emergency response and received water from Pixley.

The state could also offer Teviston relief in the future. In May, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed $5.1 billion for drought preparedness, infrastructure and response. His four-year package allots $1.3 billion of the funding to go toward drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, especially for small and disadvantaged communities.

JON JACKSON | CONTRIBUTED

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