More records shattered in Modesto as heat wave expected to continue through next week
Another day, another set of heat records in Modesto.
The high temperature of 107 on Monday broke a 53-year-old mark of 105 for the date of Aug. 17, according to the Modesto Irrigation District. The record for maximum low of 72 set in 2015 also was shattered when temperatures never moved below 81 on Monday.
On Tuesday, it will be more of the same, with a forecast high of 108 degrees, marking the first time since June 2017 that Modesto has seen six straight days of 100-plus temperatures, the MID reported.
That prediction comes as the National Weather Service says triple-digit temperatures are here to stay into the next week as highs ranging from 100 to 105 – with the exception of forecast of 98 on Thursday – are expected through at least Aug. 27.
The weather service’s excessive heat warning, which went into effect last week, will remain in place through Wednesday at 9 p.m.
The Modesto Fire Department reported getting four calls for service for trees and limbs down due to the heat wave. “Those were calls that we deemed hazards ... with either structural damage or power lines down,” Battalion Chief Doug Rice said.
The high heat also is impacting air quality, trapping the smoke from the Canyon Zone Fire as Stanislaus County residents rose this morning to smoky conditions from the wildfire in Del Puerto Canyon near Patterson.
A health caution was issued Monday by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, and will remain in place until “fires are extinguished.”
The Canyon Zone fires in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, the Hills fire in Fresno County and the Lake fire in Los Angeles County near Lebec are creating smoke throughout the San Joaquin Valley, the air district said.
The smoke can trigger asthma attacks and other health issues and anyone experiencing issues should remain indoors, the air district said.
The state avoided rolling blackouts on Monday night, although braced for some on Tuesday night. The blackouts would affect PG&E customers, who are a small minority of Stanislaus County electricity customers as most residents in the area receive their power from the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts, which are not impacted by the blackouts.
MID and TID customers did use a record amount of electricity Monday, spokeswomen with the two districts said in emails Tuesday.
“MID hit a new, all-time peak of 702 megawatts at 104 degrees (with a brief spike reaching 107 degrees) on Monday,” Melissa Williams said. “We utilized our Shave the Energy Peak (STEP) air conditioning cycling program, called on some of our commercial and industrial customers to reduce their loads and encouraged all customers to voluntarily conserve power between 1 to 9 p.m., which proved to successfully assist MID to continue to meet power demand.
“Despite the heat and record peak, we experienced only a few heat-related power outages.”
That record isn’t likely to stand for long; on Tuesday, with the utility expecting usage to reach 726 megawatts on what was forecast to be a 108-degree day.
TID spokeswoman Constance Williams said her agency set a record Monday when it reached 692 megawatts. “We are forecasting surpassing that peak on Tuesday,” she wrote. “While TID has secured the energy to meet this unprecedented demand, we appreciate the conservation efforts of our customers in helping reduce the strain on the system.”
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 9:07 AM.
