Sacramento weather forecast: Will this weekend see a repeat of Friday’s record temperatures?

Friday was hot. And the heat wave’s only just begun.

After matching record temperatures in the Sacramento region Friday, the weekend is shaping up to be extremely hot, with no respite in sight for at least the next week, forecasters said. Saturday’s forecast highs will challenge records again.

On Friday, Sacramento Executive’s high temperature was 106 degrees, matching the high set on that date in 1967. Normal value for the day is 91. Downtown Sacramento was also 106 — 1 degree lower than the record set on Aug. 14, 1920.

As for the weekend across Northern California, forecasters are warning of temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees, reaching 108 degrees in Sacramento on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s going to be hot,” said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, meteorologist at the agency’s Sacramento office. “It’s a really large high-pressure system and that doesn’t allow much air flow so it gets really hot.”

And it won’t cool down much at night either, she said.

Cloud cover in the forecast for the weekend traps hot air and prevents cooling, keeping nighttime temperatures hovering in the mid to high 70s at night,” Chandler-Cooley explained.

“The hot overnight temperatures are also a concern because houses and people can’t cool down,” she said.

Cory Mueller, another meteorologist for the National Weather Service, told The Bee 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.

Cooling centers opened

As a result, officials in Sacramento and Yolo counties announced the opening of cooling centers beginning Friday since coronavirus restrictions mean many of the malls and movie theater people usually retreat to in dire heat remain closed. A dozen sites in the capital region from Woodland to Roseville will be open through Wednesday, officials said.

Meteorologists also warned of a chance for dry, isolated thunderstorms Saturday night that are likely to be completely devoid of rainfall. That forecast prompted a fire weather watch to be issued, mainly in the high Sierra north of Tahoe, for fear lightning could create a fire spark.

The excessive heat isn’t just affecting the Sacramento Valley either. It’s sweeping across most of California and the western U.S., stressing the power supply as people struggle to cool their homes to keep up with the heat.

Why the blackouts?

California’s electricity supply couldn’t keep up Friday, causing Independent System Operator in Folsom to declare a Stage 3 emergency for the first time since 2001. That pushed the grid operator to order rolling blackouts across the state’s three investor-owned utilities, including PG&E.

Between the three major investor-owned utilities, roughly 350,000 homes and businesses were deliberately interrupted to conserve energy — and estimated 750,000 Californians were affected by the first rolling blackouts in nearly 20 years. That included big portions of El Dorado County from El Dorado Hills to Placerville.

The ISO told The Sacramento Bee said it believes it will have enough power to avoid outages Saturday and Sunday.

Forecasts through next week

Excessive heat warnings remain in effect through next Wednesday, putting many daily temperature records in Sacramento and elsewhere in jeopardy of being broken, the National Weather Service said.

“Over 80 million people are within an Excessive Heat Watch/Warning or Heat Advisory today,” the weather service said. “Extreme heat will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. Remember to stay hydrated!”

Valley temperatures are expected to be between 105 and 112 degrees with Sacramento reaching 108. In the foothills, temperatures will hover between 95 and 105. The Sierra will top out between 85 and 96, the weather service said.

Overnight lows in Sacramento will be around 75, and not much cooler at higher elevations.

Sunday will be “a brief cooldown, if you wanna call it that,” to 106 degrees, Mueller said. It’s the only upcoming day from Friday through next Wednesday forecast to tie a daily record. The all-time high for Aug. 16 is 106, reached in 2015.

Monday’s forecast high of 108 degrees will cut that respite short. That afternoon high would break another 1967 record of 106.

It’ll cool down to about 75 or 77 degrees both Sunday night and Monday night.

Forecasters still 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.

This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Sacramento weather forecast: Will this weekend see a repeat of Friday’s record temperatures?."