What forecasters are saying is creating the worst heat wave in several years has caused Friday rolling blackouts due to lack of power and is setting dangerous conditions in California.
The power crisis was caused in part by the limitations of the coronavirus, which closed cinemas, shopping malls and other locations where people would typically gather to beat the heat. Concerns about outbreaks have kept many in their homes with the air conditioning on,
The broiling conditions that began Friday could rival the deadly Sunday 2006 July 2006 heatwave event said the National Water Service.
The valleys, mountains, and deserts of southern California will likely show both daytime and nighttime temperatures over records at least through at least Thursday, and elevated humidity will make conditions two to five degrees warmer during the day.
“People need to take it really seriously,” said Kathy Hoxsie, a meteorologist with the Oxnard Weather Service. “Drink plenty of water. Find shade.”
Virtually no region of the South will be spared from circumstances that Hoxsie said “hot, hot and hot.”
“We expect the heat to continue through the weekend and into new week, likely on Monday, Tuesday, will pick up,” she said. “We have too many warnings for the Antelope Valley by Tuesday night and Monday for the inland valleys.”
Air quality officials issued an advisory warning Friday that the heat wave is pushing lung-damaging ozone pollution to “very unusual” levels and that much of Southern California will experience increased smog on Monday.
On Friday afternoon, ozone pollution in some areas reached its highest level in a decade due to high temperatures and wildfires, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The air district said ozone, the invisible gas in smog that triggers asthma and other health problems, could reach “unlucky” as well as “very bad” levels during the noon hours from Saturday through Monday. The advice covers areas including the Santa Clarita, San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys, the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, the Inland Empire and the Coachella Valley.
Because of excessive heat to use electricity, California declared a statewide Stage 3 emergency Friday night for the first time since 2001 and ordered utilities to run power outage programs.
The California Independent System Operator had earlier Friday issued a statewide flex alarm, asking residents to keep electricity between 3 and 10 p.m. This alarm asked consumers to set air conditioning thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, turn off unnecessary lights and do not use essential appliances.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said its customers were not affected because the department generates and imports its own electricity and was able to meet the city’s demand.
There were widespread power outages in Southern California, but it was unclear how widespread they were. The emergency notice was issued at 6.36pm and lifted at 8.54pm. One thousand megawatts of electricity were taken out of service, the corporation said.
David Song, a public information manager for Edison in Southern California, said about 132,000 of the utility’s 5 million customers had been without power since 7:30 a.m. because of rotating power outages that had put it in place. The outages were spread across the Southern California Edison service area and were set to last approximately one hour for each outage group. These groups include customers from across cities, so an entire city is unaffected, he said.
Song urged customers to take steps as simple as turning off the lights in a room once they leave to save energy, emphasizing that “every little bit helps.”
“In previous cases, we encouraged customers to go to the movie or the mall to get away with the heat,” he said. “We understand with COVID that this is not a reality. … We keep customers and what they are going through right now, especially staying home. ”
In Los Angeles, the DWP was able to supply excessive power to the California Independent System Operator on Friday night. The DWP, noted spokesman Joe Ramallo, noted, has never had to institute rotating outages because of insufficient power to meet demand.
Forecasters said that this heat wave could rival the full wave of 2006, when Los Angeles County recorded its highest temperature of the time on July 22: 119 degrees in Woodland Hills.
The Times reported that coronants in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Kern counties linked about 130 deaths to the heat, with diagnoses including hyperthermia and heat stroke. But state researchers later estimated that tolls in those counties were more likely to range from 350 to 450.
