Modesto battles wildfires, record-setting heat wave. Why we won’t see any relief soon
If you thought Sunday was a scorcher, you were right.
Modesto’s daytime high of 109 and nighttime low of 80 both set records for the hottest August 16 since the Modesto Irrigation District started keeping records in 1939.
And we won’t see any relief soon from a prolonged heat wave that has baked California and much of the West Coast.
The National Weather Service in Sacramento predicts Monday’s high will be 108 degrees, and Tuesday will be hotter by about a couple of degrees. Wednesday should hit 104, which is when the excessive heat warning the NWS issued Friday is expected to end.
The conditions are causing other problems in Stanislaus County, with lightning the likely cause of a fire in Del Puerto Canyon, and possible rolling blackouts this evening affecting the area’s PG&E customers, including much of the city of Newman.
NWS meteorologist Scott Rowe said Thursday should be 100 degrees, but Modesto will start heating up again over the weekend, with temperatures in the low 100s.
Rowe said a massive upper level ridge of high pressure parked over the Southwest is the culprit for heat wave. “We get them every summer,” he said. “But this one is stronger and more persistent.”
The previous daytime high for August 16 was 104 in 1992 and the previous nighttime low for the same date was 75 set last year. The MID records temperatures in downtown.
Lightning storms in Bay Area
The excessive heat also has brought thunderstorms and lightening to the Bay Area and other parts of California as well as wildfires. Those fires include four burning in Del Puerto Canyon, northwest of Patterson. Cal Fire reports that what it is calling the Canyon Zone wildfires had burned 1,851 acres as of about noon Monday with 0% containment. The fires started Sunday.
The fires have brought smoke to Modesto and elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has issued a health caution because of the smoke. “Air pollution officials caution Valley residents to reduce exposure to the particulate matter emissions by remaining indoors in affected areas,” according to a news release.
The district said the masks and other face coverings residents are wearing because of the new coronavirus may not protect them from the effects of wildfire smoke.
The district reported that Valley residents are seeing and feeling the effects of the smoke from the Canyon Zone fires, the Hills fire in Fresno County and the Lake fire in Los Angeles County. The Hills fire had burned more than 950 acres and Lake fire more than 18,500 acres as of Monday, according to Cal Fire.
Cal Fire spokeswoman Pam Temmermand said the lightning storm that came through the Bay Area over the weekend could have caused the Del Puerto Canyon fires. “It may have reached (the canyon),” she said. “It’s certainly a possibility given the weather.”
But she said it’s too soon to know the fires’ cause with any certainty. Temmermand said she is not aware of any injuries, and it’s too soon to report on any property damage.
No rolling blackouts for MID, TID
On Friday, the California Independent System Operator, which runs the state’s power grid, declared a Stage 3 emergency alert around 6:30 p.m., the first time that has happened since 2001. That has meant rolling blackouts for customers of Pacific Gas and Electric, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison.
The majority of Stanislaus County residents receive electricity from the Modesto Irrigation and Turlock Irrigation districts, which aren’t part of Cal ISO and aren’t subjected to the rolling blackouts. However, PG&E customers in areas including Oakdale, Riverbank and Newman are likely to be affected tonight.
“MID expects to be able to meet forecasted power demands this week,” MID spokeswoman Melissa Williams said in an email. “We watch weather forecasts and our power system conditions closely and have planned our power supply resources accordingly for this heat wave. And, we stand ready to make any real-time adjustments as necessary.”
Williams said the MID had scattered heat-related power failures over the weekend, including transformer failures because of the excessive heat and a few lightning strikes. She said the MID’s peak load was 697 megawatts, which was previously reached in July 2006 and August 2017.
Utilities ask customers to conserve power
She said Friday’s peak load reached 669 megawatts, Saturday’s was 643 and Sunday reached 670.
TID spokeswoman Constance Anderson said in an email that her utility had “some localized outages ... over the weekend. These are not out of the ordinary for an extreme weather event like this. We appreciate and recognize the efforts of our crews who are out restoring power in 100+ degree temperatures.”
Williams and Anderson both asked customers to conserve energy because it reduces the potential for power failures.
Customers can do that by setting the thermostats on their air conditioners at 78 or higher, keeping heat from building up in their homes by keeping blinds and curtains shut, by limiting the use of dishwashers and other appliances from 1 to 9 p.m., and by unplugging the toaster, coffee pots and other appliances when they are not in use.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 2:30 PM.
