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California is in for extreme heat through the Labor Day weekend.

Triple-digit temperatures are expected in much of California, with elevated fire risk and strains on the state’s power grid.

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California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, warned of a prolonged heat wave bringing triple-digit temperatures across the state.CreditCredit...Caroline Brehman/EPA, via Shutterstock

After a relatively mild summer, California faces a long and possibly record-setting heat wave through Labor Day weekend, with triple-digit temperatures expected across some parts of the state.

The National Weather Service has posted extreme heat warnings starting Wednesday for much of California. Temperatures could reach 115 degrees in the Inland Empire region near San Bernardino, and 112 degrees in the San Fernando Valley and San Joaquin Valley, while hovering just below 100 closer to the coast.

“We are anticipating a period of extreme heat, of a length and duration the likes of which we haven’t experienced,” Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, said on Wednesday, noting that the demand for electricity in the state will be strained for at least a week.

Until now, California had in large part been spared the extreme heat waves felt across much of the United States this summer. But while average or below-average temperatures are expected in most of the country in the first half of September, it will be a different story in the West.

“This does tend to be our hottest time of year,” said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the Los Angeles-Oxnard forecasting office of the National Weather Service. The highest temperature ever recorded in Los Angeles County, a sweltering 121 degrees, came over Labor Day weekend in 2020. September is also typically the Bay Area’s warmest month.

This year’s heat wave is expected to peak twice, Mr. Wofford said — first on Wednesday and Thursday, and then again at even higher levels on Sunday and Monday. Records are possible Thursday, Sunday and Monday, and there won’t be much relief at night, when temperatures are expected to dip only slightly.

Over the next week in Los Angeles, the highest heat index forecast is 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday. Compared with today, forecasts show that the heat index will be lower over most of the following days.

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The New York Times

More than 29 million people in California live in areas under extreme heat warnings, and cities in those areas are taking steps to offer some respite. Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles announced that sites like public libraries, recreational facilities and senior centers in the city would be open as cooling centers through Monday.

The heat wave worsens wildfire risk and raises concerns about blackouts. “With the warming and drying trend this week and over the weekend, we will see very dangerous heat risk and increased fire weather concerns over portions of interior Northern California,” the National Weather Service office in Sacramento said in an advisory. So far, the 2022 fire season has been quieter than in past years in California, but extreme heat creates prime conditions for fires to ignite and spread.

California ISO, the state electrical grid operator, said in a bulletin that the grid would probably be strained by high demand over the holiday weekend, and that residents may be asked to reduce energy usage during peak times.

Shawn Hubler contributed reporting from Sacramento.

Eden Weingart is an illustrator, designer and an art director at The Times. She has led the visual direction of coverage ranging from the New York mayoral race to the Olympics. More about Eden Weingart

Soumya Karlamangla is the lead writer for the California Today newsletter, where she provides daily insights and updates from her home state. More about Soumya Karlamangla

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