Rebecca Falconer AXIOS
Death Valley National Park, California. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images
A Southern Californian thermometer at Death Valley's Furnace Creek reached 130 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, AUGUST 16, 2020 per the National Weather Service (NWS).
Why it matters: If verified, it would be Earth's hottest temperature since at least 1931, the most scorching August day on record and the third-highest temperature ever recorded, per the Washington Post. Records were broken across California over the weekend, as the heat wave triggered wildfires and rolling power outages.
Of note: The highest temperature ever recorded on Earth was considered to be at Death Valley in 1913, when a reading of 134°F was observed. But analysis by climate experts in 2016 found this was "essentially not possible from a meteorological perspective."
Yes, but: Randy Cerveny, who heads the World Meteorological Organisation's weather and climate extremes team, told WashPost, the latest observation seemed "legitimate."
"I am recommending that the World Meteorological Organisation preliminarily accept the observation," Cerveny added.
The big picture: The NWS said temperature records were set in several other places in California on Sunday, including in Palmdale and Lancaster airports (both hit 111°F) and LAX International Airport (93°F) — and Paso Robles Airport tied its record for the month at 114°F.
"Blistering, widespread excessive heat" has struck across the western U.S., the NWS' Weather Prediction Center notes.
"Storms with abundant lightning from Nevada/eastern California northeastward through southwestern Montana is expected to start new fires or increase fire activity. Isolated severe storms capable of strong wind gusts are expected across parts of eastern Oregon into far southwest Idaho and southern Arizona."— NWS Weather Prediction Center
California plagued by scorching heat (130 degrees!), lightning, blackouts and even fire tornadoesPublished: Aug. 16, 2020 By Mike Murphy
Warning of rolling blackouts through Wednesday, as wildfires rage and much of the state sizzles
Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge early Sunday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
After a weekend of wild and scorching weather, California residents were warned Sunday to brace for the likelihood of rolling blackouts through Wednesday.
More than 200,000 PG&E Corp. PCG, -2.55% customers in Northern California lost power Saturday in the state’s first sequence of rolling blackouts since the Enron-stoked statewide energy crisis of 2000-’01. Another 200,000 customers apparently got a reprieve Sunday night, as PG&E tweeted that forecast evening outages — typically lasting an hour or two — would not be needed as demand was expected to be met.
Last year, broad swaths of California were intentionally blacked out to reduce wildfire risks on days with high winds, but the current blackouts are unrelated to that. This time around, “There is not a sufficient amount of energy to meet the high amounts of demand during the heat wave,” California’s Independent System Operator said Sunday. The nonprofit public benefit corporation urged energy conservation for the next several days.
Conditions were exacerbated, Cal ISO said, by the “unexpected loss” of a 470-megawatt power plant Saturday and a loss of 1,000 megawatts of wind power, as well as a greater reliance on solar energy, which can be disrupted by cloud cover.
The blackouts came amid a surge in energy usage as homes cranked up the air conditioning to counter a widespread and intense heat wave, straining the state’s energy grid even though a large number of businesses remain closed due to the pandemic.
Triple-digit heat gripped much of the state, topped by an eye-popping reading of 130 degrees in Death Valley on Sunday. If confirmed, that would rank as the first time Death Valley — historically the hottest spot in the country — has hit 130 degrees since 1913, the National Weather Service said.
In Northern California, the heat was accompanied by a rare summer thunderstorm that brought spectacular lightning strikes around the San Francisco Bay Area early Sunday, sparking a number of small fires. Wind gusts in some places reached 75 mph.
Nearly 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded around the state by 6 a.m. Sunday.
“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years,” tweeted Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist.
Forecasters said conditions were ripe for a repeat early Monday, potentially sparking more fires.
While lightning-caused fires around the Bay Area were mopped up Sunday, larger wildfires continued to rage in other parts of California. The Lake Fire, in the mountains north of Los Angeles, near Lancaster, had burned nearly 28 square miles as of Sunday night, with just 12% containment.
Another blaze, dubbed the Loyalton Fire, near the state line north of Lake Tahoe, has burned more than 45 square miles and spurred evacuation orders for remote communities.
That fire spurred the first-ever warning Saturday for a “firenado” — an event caused when ground winds whip flames higher, into a tornado-like spiral. The National Weather Service issued the warning for “fire-induced tornadoes” and warned fire crews to use extreme caution.
After a weekend of wild and scorching weather, California residents were warned Sunday to brace for the likelihood of rolling blackouts through Wednesday.
More than 200,000 PG&E Corp. PCG, -2.55% customers in Northern California lost power Saturday in the state’s first sequence of rolling blackouts since the Enron-stoked statewide energy crisis of 2000-’01. Another 200,000 customers apparently got a reprieve Sunday night, as PG&E tweeted that forecast evening outages — typically lasting an hour or two — would not be needed as demand was expected to be met.
Last year, broad swaths of California were intentionally blacked out to reduce wildfire risks on days with high winds, but the current blackouts are unrelated to that. This time around, “There is not a sufficient amount of energy to meet the high amounts of demand during the heat wave,” California’s Independent System Operator said Sunday. The nonprofit public benefit corporation urged energy conservation for the next several days.
Conditions were exacerbated, Cal ISO said, by the “unexpected loss” of a 470-megawatt power plant Saturday and a loss of 1,000 megawatts of wind power, as well as a greater reliance on solar energy, which can be disrupted by cloud cover.
The blackouts came amid a surge in energy usage as homes cranked up the air conditioning to counter a widespread and intense heat wave, straining the state’s energy grid even though a large number of businesses remain closed due to the pandemic.
Triple-digit heat gripped much of the state, topped by an eye-popping reading of 130 degrees in Death Valley on Sunday. If confirmed, that would rank as the first time Death Valley — historically the hottest spot in the country — has hit 130 degrees since 1913, the National Weather Service said.
In Northern California, the heat was accompanied by a rare summer thunderstorm that brought spectacular lightning strikes around the San Francisco Bay Area early Sunday, sparking a number of small fires. Wind gusts in some places reached 75 mph.
Nearly 5,000 lightning strikes were recorded around the state by 6 a.m. Sunday.
“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years,” tweeted Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist.
Forecasters said conditions were ripe for a repeat early Monday, potentially sparking more fires.
While lightning-caused fires around the Bay Area were mopped up Sunday, larger wildfires continued to rage in other parts of California. The Lake Fire, in the mountains north of Los Angeles, near Lancaster, had burned nearly 28 square miles as of Sunday night, with just 12% containment.
Another blaze, dubbed the Loyalton Fire, near the state line north of Lake Tahoe, has burned more than 45 square miles and spurred evacuation orders for remote communities.
That fire spurred the first-ever warning Saturday for a “firenado” — an event caused when ground winds whip flames higher, into a tornado-like spiral. The National Weather Service issued the warning for “fire-induced tornadoes” and warned fire crews to use extreme caution.
Rare summer thunderstorm sparks new wildfires across California
Associated Press, NBC News•August 16, 2020
LOS ANGELES — A rare summer thunderstorm brought lightning that sparked several small blazes in Northern California on Sunday and stoked a huge wildfire that has forced hundreds of people from their homes north of Los Angeles.
More than 4,500 buildings remained threatened by the fire burning toward thick, dry brush in the Angeles National Forest. Firefighters already battling the blaze in steep, rugged terrain with scorching heat faced more hurdles when hundreds of lightning strikes and winds up to 15 mph pushed the flames uphill.
“We set up a containment line at the top of the hills so the fire doesn’t spill over to the other side and cause it to spread, but it was obviously difficult given the erratic wind and some other conditions,” said fire spokesman Jake Miller.
The Lake Fire was just 12% contained Sunday and has burned nearly 28 square miles of brush and trees. Fire officials said 33 buildings had been destroyed, including at least a dozen homes.
Temperatures reached more than 110 degrees and a pyrocumulus created erratic fire behavior, fire spokesman Tom Ewald said.
Thunderstorm and excessive heat were also a concern for firefighters battling a blaze that blackened almost 4 square miles in the foothills above the Los Angeles suburb of Azusa. The fire, believed to be started Thursday by a homeless man, is only 3% contained.
Many areas of the state saw triple-digit temperatures through the weekend and the combination of prolonged heat and smoke from wildfires sent ozone pollution to levels not seen in a decade in some areas. Air quality may reach unhealthy to very unhealthy levels in several regions of Southern California on Sunday and Monday afternoons, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said.
In Northern California, moisture from an offshore tropical storm fueled a thunderstorm that brought nonstop lightning strikes early Sunday, some of which ignited small fires and knocked out power across the San Francisco Bay Area.
Wind gusts reached 75 mph (121 kph), according to the National Weather Service, which said another round of lightning may develop early Monday.
“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years,” tweeted Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Unsettling weather triggered an unusual warning by the weather service of a fire-induced tornado at an out-of-control forest fire that broke out north of Lake Tahoe on Saturday afternoon.
A massive fire cloud known as a pyrocumulonimbus formed over the fire, which started east of the town of Loyalton, about 40 miles west of Reno, Nevada. When high winds collided with the fire and whipped it into the air, a spectacular tornado-shaped spiral of flames was formed.
The fire has burned at least 45 square miles and triggered evacuation orders for sparsely populated communities along State Route 395 by the California-Nevada border, said Tahoe National Forest spokesman Joe Flannery.
Firefighters aided by water-dropping helicopters and air tankers faced “extreme fire behavior,” he said, and worked through the night to extinguish spot fires and protect threatened structures.
At one point, the fast-moving fire jumped a highway and came dangerously close to a fire truck. A fire crew from Truckee tweeted a video of firefighters dragging hoses as they ran alongside a moving truck that was dodging the flames.
Ryan Peel said firefighters created some defensive space around his slot machine distribution warehouse in Chilcoot, but he was worried the erratic winds could still put his business in the line of fire.
“Yesterday was extremely emotional, as we were at the mercy of the wind and the unpredictability of the fire,” Peel said. “I was stressed and terrified at the idea of losing everything I’ve spent my life working for.”
With zero containment and strong winds in the forecast, he said, “we are not out of the woods yet.”
The fire has burned at least 45 square miles and triggered evacuation orders for sparsely populated communities along State Route 395 by the California-Nevada border, said Tahoe National Forest spokesman Joe Flannery.
Firefighters aided by water-dropping helicopters and air tankers faced “extreme fire behavior,” he said, and worked through the night to extinguish spot fires and protect threatened structures.
At one point, the fast-moving fire jumped a highway and came dangerously close to a fire truck. A fire crew from Truckee tweeted a video of firefighters dragging hoses as they ran alongside a moving truck that was dodging the flames.
Ryan Peel said firefighters created some defensive space around his slot machine distribution warehouse in Chilcoot, but he was worried the erratic winds could still put his business in the line of fire.
“Yesterday was extremely emotional, as we were at the mercy of the wind and the unpredictability of the fire,” Peel said. “I was stressed and terrified at the idea of losing everything I’ve spent my life working for.”
With zero containment and strong winds in the forecast, he said, “we are not out of the woods yet.”
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