Record-smashing heat wave possible for Sacramento. How hot might it get each day?
Hot’s about to get even hotter.
With Sacramento up into the 80s before 11 a.m., a high of 102 degrees expected Thursday afternoon might already sound like a mid-August scorcher. But that could be nothing in comparison to what’s coming in the next few days, forecasters are warning.
Temperatures will be well into the 100s and could approach 111 degrees — yes, one hundred and eleven degrees Fahrenheit — multiple days between Friday and next Wednesday in the Sacramento Valley, according to the latest National Weather Service forecasts, all of which bumped up by a few degrees since the previous day’s projections.
“This will be the longest heat wave we’ve seen this summer so far,” NWS meteorologist Cory Mueller said. “Heat like this will affect the entire population, not just sensitive groups.”
As a result, officials in Sacramento and Yolo counties announced the opening of cooling centers beginning Friday. Sites in Sacramento, Elk Grove, Folsom, Galt, Rancho Cordova, West Sacramento, Davis and Woodland would be open through Wednesday, officials said.
The NWS has issued an excessive heat watch across the Central Valley, from Bakersfield to Redding, warning temperatures could range from 100 to 111 degrees. The Sacramento weather office issued the watch earlier in the week for Saturday and Sunday, and has now expanded it to include Friday afternoon.
Mueller said the heat wave will be relatively uniform, with highs up and down the Sacramento Valley only varying by about 1 to 4 degrees. Even South Lake Tahoe, a popular haven for those looking to escape heat in the capital region, is forecast to reach 90 degrees next week.
Some weather apps, like the one on your iPhone, as of midday Thursday were showing Sacramento-area highs reaching 111 or 112 degrees early next week. If that sounds ridiculously hot, it’s because it is: Downtown Sacramento has hit 111 degrees in August just two times, according to NWS data dating back to 1877, most recently on Aug. 4, 1998, and before that Aug. 13, 1933.
“It’s not unusual to see these warm temperatures in August, but we are looking at the potential for breaking some records,” Mueller said. “Drink water, even when you’re not thirsty.”
The highest temperature ever recorded in Sacramento’s history was 115, on June 15, 1961, NWS records show.
Flex Alert issued
Additionally, the California Independent System Operator has called for a Flex Alert to conserve electricity between 3 and 10 p.m. Friday. The advisory by the state’s grid manager asks residents across the state to shift power demand to off-peak hours to ease strain on the grid.
Cal ISO said the excessive heat will increase load demands, “primarily from residential air conditioning use,” and the remnants of a tropical storm to the south will bring cloud cover and reduced solar generation, mainly in Southern California.
“Consumers are also asked to turn off unnecessary lights, use major appliances before 3 p.m. and after 10 p.m., and set air conditioner thermostats to 78 degrees or higher,” Cal ISO said in a release.
Here’s a day-by-day look at how hot it could get in the immediate future.
Friday
The NWS Sacramento office’s go-to measuring station at Sacramento Executive Airport is forecast to hit 106 degrees Friday.
That would match the all-time record of 106 degrees, last hit in 1967.
It would also be the hottest day yet in 2020, which had previously peaked at 104 degrees July 11 and July 12. But it won’t stay the hottest day of 2020 for long.
Saturday
If you were planning on mowing your lawn or going for a jog, you probably want to start nice and early.
“Even the relief at night will be fairly limited,” Mueller said.
Friday’s overnight low will drop to 74 degrees before giving way to Saturday’s expected high of 108.
That would easily be a daily record, shooting past the 105-degree mark set last year on Aug. 15.
Sunday
Sunday will be “a brief cooldown, if you wanna call it that,” to 104 degrees, Mueller said.
It’s the only upcoming day from Friday through next Wednesday not forecast to tie or break a daily record. The all-time high for Aug. 16 is 106, reached in 2015.
Monday
If Sunday’s 104 degrees was relief, Monday’s forecast high of 107 degrees will cut that respite short.
That afternoon high would break another 1967 record of 106.
It’ll cool down to about 72 or 73 degrees both Sunday night and Monday night.
Tuesday
Forecasters currently expect Tuesday to be the hottest day of the heat wave, capable of reaching 111 in parts of the Sacramento area, as well as closer to Modesto to the south and Redding up north.
The official forecast for Sacramento Executive Airport is 109 degrees, according to the NWS.
That’d blow past another record of 107 degrees set on that date, yet again, from the hot summer of 1967.
Wednesday
Wednesday will be nearly as bad as Tuesday, but possibly a degree or two cooler.
The NWS currently predicts a high of 108 degrees, which would break a record of 107 set in 1950.
“We’re gonna see a fairly long, extended period of very hot weather with temperatures well above 100,” Mueller summed it up.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 12:49 PM.
