The National Weather Service Sacramento has extended their high heat forecasts through Saturday evening due to persistent hot and dry conditions and warm overnight lows that will continue to bring elevated fire weather conditions to the region.
“We will continue to see major to extreme heat risk through Saturday and then moderate heat risk for the Valley and foothills as we head into Sunday and Monday,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Idamis Del Valle-Shoemaker said.
The extreme heat risk is the highest designation for heat related impacts provided by the National Weather Service, meaning the entire population is at risk for heat-related illnesses. This includes pets and livestock, with little to no overnight relief.
The hottest days are still on track to be today and Saturday, with a high of 104 degrees forecast today, and a high of 99 degrees tomorrow.
Cooler temperatures are expected next week with only a minor heat risk and temperatures forecast in the low 90s to upper 80s Monday through Thursday.
The weather service is forecasting the 10-20 percent chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms Saturday through Sunday along the crest of the Sierra Nevada, mainly south of Highway 50.
Impacts to infrastructure
With the high heat, the National Weather Service is expecting impacts to be felt in heat-sensitive industries and infrastructure.
One of those industries — PG&E — has been working to bolster the local electricity grid, which has been under stress as many electricity infrastructure users have been taxing the system with their energy needs to power air conditioning units to stay cool.
“PG&E has placed four generators at its Brunswick substation in Grass Valley to supplement electricity during times of peak demand, such as we had during hot weather last week,” PG&E Marketing & Communications Principal Paul Moreno said. “The four generators can provide up to 6 megawatts of power, about enough to serve about 4,000 homes.”
PG&E had deployed the semi-truck sized generators at the Brunswick substation in previous years, including in 2022 when they were used here last.
The energy and infrastructure provider is also working to ensure safety amongst residents of the foothills in high fire threat areas by enabling Enhanced Power line Safety Settings (EPSS) on their electrical grid.
When an anomaly comes into contact with a power line — say a tree branch or squirrel — the EPSS allows for the electricity to be disconnected within a fraction of a second.
Tuesday morning the EPSS was put to the test in the Rough & Ready and Penn Valley area when a bird came into contact with electrical infrastructure, acting as a conductor, and causing an outage to 2,140 customers according to PG&E officials.
“This was an Enhanced Power line Safety circuit enabled during the fire season in high fire threat areas,” Moreno said. “The outage would have occurred even if the line had not been EPSS enabled. But because it was, it was shut off in 1/10th of a second.”
According to Moreno, in 2022 there was a 68 percent reduction in ignitions on EPSS enabled power lines.
When outages occur on an EPSS circuit, inspection of the grid on that circuit must first ensue before re-energizing the power lines.
In Tuesday’s instance, power was restored in just over two hours, which is relatively fast when taking into account the uneven terrain and miles of lines that must first be inspected Moreno said.
Following last weekend’s tragedies — two drowning deaths on the South Yuba River, one at Scotts Flat Reservoir — folks are to be reminded that local water ways are still running swift and cold from the winter snowmelt making conditions dangerous for swimmers.
Whether at the river or the lake, swimming, tubing, boating or kayaking — users should always wear a lifejacket.
The Pioneer Park Pool in Nevada City and the Memorial Park Gold Country Pool in Grass Valley are great ways to beat the heat with lifeguards on duty to assist in keeping folks safe.
The Pioneer Park Pool is open for public swim Tuesday through Sunday 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. and Monday’s from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Fees are $2.25 for infants (1-12 months), $3.25 for children (1-17), $4.25 for adults (18-64), $2.25 for seniors (65+).
The Memorial Park Gold Country Pool, run by the YMCA, conducts open swim Monday through Thursday and Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. On Fridays, open swim is from 12:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Lap swim times are also offered at the Gold Country Pool Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. as well as Monday through Thursday evenings from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Fees are $4 for youth (1-13), $5 for teens (13-18), $6 for adults (18-61), $4 for seniors (62+). Fees for lap swim are $5 for teens (13-18), $6 for adults (18-61), $4 for seniors (62+).
Cooling centers in Nevada City are set to be open today and tomorrow for those who may need a cool room to escape the high temperatures.
Folks can beat the heat at the Madelyn Helling Library at 980 Helling Way, Nevada City, which is set to be open today from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The Doris Foley Historical Library at 211 N. Pine Street, Nevada City, is also set to be open today and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for those looking from a reprieve from the warm temperatures.