Sharon Bernstein
Sacramento, Calif. (Reuters) – A record heatwave is expected to hit California on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching as high as the
Labor Day weekend, Fahrenheit (46°C) for the state’s interior valleys and 100 for the coast, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Eric Kurth, a meteorologist at the NWS Sacramento office, said: “It’s not uncommon to see high temperatures during Labor Day, but this is an extraordinary high temperature event.”
The heat wave follows a sustained high temperature two weeks ago. Since then, the state has been plagued by extreme weather and persistent drought.
High projected temperatures, droughts and severe storms will increase globally as man-made climate change progresses, scientists say. Major floods have killed more than 1, 000 people in Pakistan, and in recent weeks parts of the southeastern United States have also been inundated.
In California, the heat will gradually heat up throughout the week, hitting the southern part of the state first and then scorching northern regions over the long holiday weekend, the NWS said. Temperatures are likely to reach record highs in many parts of the state, including the state capital, Sacramento, on Monday and degrees on Tuesday.
The extreme heat was caused by an area of high pressure that formed over the deserts of the Southwest, and it will move through California in the next few days, he added.
Night, especially in the foothills, probably won’t bring much relief.
High temperatures are also expected from Wednesday, said Sarah Rogowski, a meteorologist and emergency response specialist at the Utah Regional Office of the National Weather Service. It began to affect other parts of the West, including Washington State, Idaho, western Montana, and Oregon.
She said fire weather monitoring is underway in Northern California’s Modoc and Siskiyou counties, which face a combination of extreme temperatures and high winds.
