Steve Berberich, president and CEO of the ISO of California, said in a briefing that the demand for power on Tuesday is expected to be above the state’s capacity. He stressed that significant efforts should be made for power management to minimize or even prevent potential disruptions.
The brutal heat punishes the power grid and fuels more than 30 wildfires across the state.
Nearly 42 million people will be under California’s hot warning this week, with some warnings lasting through Thursday and Friday, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy.
‘Extraordinarily unusual historical event’
Heat waves of this magnitude do not normally last a full week in California, Garcia said, and with thunderstorms that produce lightning also predicted in the Bay Area, the chance of a wildfire being ignited and spreading is much higher than normal.
“I’ve been following the California weather for 15 years and I’ve never seen it in my career,” Garcia said. “There are others in this office who have been here for 20 to 30 years who have not seen it in their careers yet.”
Garcia said the temperature of record breaking in California is also intense because the state is in a pressure cooker-like situation, where a high-pressure area over the southwestern part of Utah descends on most of the state of California . In other words, the air pushes down, heats up, and remains very stationary across the state.
Garcia said August is likely to be one of the warmest months on record for California as current warm temperatures end up being heavier than the first half of the month temperatures which were fairly comfortable and cool. He added that 2020 could also be one of the worst years that California has seen so far.
“I think if we look back on this year as a whole – in line with everything that has happened in the world to make 2020 as crazy as it is – it will probably be one of the hottest years on record. for California, ”Garcia said. “Although we do not know these numbers yet … if it continues on that route, then yes, we will to some extent be able to begin to attribute from the regions we have seen this year to global climate change.”
At least three cities in the state reported a new record temperature on Monday, a NWS San Diego tweet said.
Man against arson charges related to wildfire
In Los Angeles County, a 36-year-old man has been charged with starting the Ranch 2 Fire, which burned more than 3,000 acres in the county and prompted forced evacuations, prosecutors said.
The man, Osmin Palencia, was accused of arson during a state lawsuit and arson of a structure like a forest, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. If convicted, he faces a possible maximum sentence of 23 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Palencia started the fire on August 13 during an argument.
Smoke from these fires is also a concern for residents, as air quality warnings continue in the Southern Joaquin Valley, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy. These will not expire until the fires have continued.
Fire threatens endangered turtles and Joshua trees
A fire near the California-Nevada border is threatening the desert tortoise and burning some old-growth Joshua trees, said Seneca Smith, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.
The dome fire in the Mojave National Preserve in California has burned through 44,000 acres. Firefighters use minimal tactics to suppress impact – they do not dig deep fire lines and only use bulldozers on existing roads – to protect the desert turtle, Smith said.
The desert turtle is part of the federal list of endangered species and is considered “endangered” – one step below “endangered” with only about 100,000 turtles left.
The fire has already consumed a large piece of Joshua tree, known as the Woodlands. Once burned, “the trees do not come back,” Smith said.
The Dome Fire burns a remote area on the corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas just south of I-15 at the memorable Zzyzzx Road. About 40 structures are threatened by the fire, although most are outdoor. Eight houses have been evacuated, along with some livestock.
CNN’s Sara Moon, Cheri Mossburg, Topher Gauk-Roger and Hollie Silverman have contributed to this report.
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