Californien og Vesten griller i rekordhøj hedebølge

En rekordslående hedebølge gjorde livet surt i store dele af Vesten i tirsdags, hvor Californien strakte sig ind i sin anden uge med overdreven varme, der beskattede statens strømforsyning med rekordhøj efterspørgsel og bragte den faretruende tæt på at bestille afbrydelser, mens folk var forsøger desperat at holde sig cool.

Californiens uafhængige systemoperatør, den enhed, der fører tilsyn med statens elnet, udsendte en trin 3-advarsel, der tillod den at trække på nødstrømskilder. Advarslen er et trin under faktisk bestilling af roterende strømafbrydelser.

CAISO sagde, at den maksimale efterspørgsel efter elektricitet tirsdag ramte 52.061 megawatt, langt over den tidligere højeste på 50.270 megawatt, der blev fastsat den 24. juli 2006.

Efterspørgslen faldt, efterhånden som skumringen faldt på, virksomheder lukkede, og CAISO sendte en besked på sin mobiltelefon-app, hvor de tryglede kunderne om at skære ned på deres brug og advarede om, at "strømafbrydelser kan forekomme, medmindre du handler."

Fase 3-alarmen sluttede klokken 20.00. uden udfald. CAISO takkede kunderne og tweetede, at "forbrugerbevarelse spillede en stor rolle i at beskytte det elektriske nets pålidelighed."

Selv uden forsætlige strømafbrydelser befandt titusindvis af mennesker sig imidlertid uden strøm i det nordlige Californien.

Omkring 35.700 mennesker mistede elektricitet i Silicon Valley og de sydlige og indre områder af San Francisco Bay Area, og de fleste af udfaldene var varmerelaterede, sagde Jason King fra Pacific Gas &Electric tirsdag aften. Der var ingen ord om, hvornår strømmen ville genoptages.

Tidligere på dagen opfordrede den demokratiske guvernør Gavin Newsom indbyggerne til at spare og advarede i en videobesked om, at "risikoen for afbrydelser er reel, og den er øjeblikkelig."

"Denne hedebølge er på vej til at blive både den varmeste og den længste, der er registreret for staten og mange dele af Vesten i september måned," sagde Newsom. "Alle er nødt til at gøre deres del for at hjælpe med at gå op i et par dage mere."

Californiens Department of Cannabis Control opfordrede marihuana-virksomheder til at slukke deres lys og strømmen eller bruge en backup-generator.

Californiens delstatshovedstad, Sacramento, ramte tirsdag et rekordhøjdepunkt på 116 grader Fahrenheit (46,7 grader Celsius), hvilket slog den tidligere rekord på 114 F sat i juli 1925 ifølge National Weather Service.

Sacramento-indfødte Debbie Chang var tirsdag morgen ude at gå i Capitol Park og trak en vogn med Pop-Tarts og vand for at dele ud til hjemløse. Hun bor i et gammelt hus, der er afhængig af vægmonterede enheder, som hun siger ikke fungerer så godt. Temperaturen nåede 91 grader (33 C) i hendes hus mandag aften.

"The past few years in California, it's really rough," she said. "I really love this state. And growing up I never imagined I'd exactly want to live outside of California, unless maybe internationally. But this is very difficult."

In the San Francisco Bay Area, temperatures tied or broke all-time highs in a half-dozen cities. In Los Angeles, temperatures were in the 90s on Tuesday, prompting the nation's second-largest school district to limit the use of asphalt and concrete playgrounds.

In neighboring Nevada, Reno's 106 F (41 C) on Tuesday was its hottest day ever recorded in September and smashed the previous record for the date, 96 F (35.5 C) in 1944. It came within 2 degrees of the all-time high for any day or month of 108 F (42 C), set in July 2002 and equaled in July 2007, according to the National Weather Service.

In Utah's Salt Lake City—a city at more than 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) elevation—temperatures were about 20 degrees higher than normal, hitting 105 F (40.5 C) on Tuesday, the hottest September day recorded going back to 1874.

Scientists say climate change has made the West warmer and drier over the last three decades and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. In the last five years, California has experienced the largest and most destructive fires in state history.

A wildfire that started Friday in the Northern California community of Weed killed two people and one that erupted Monday and spread rapidly in the Hemet area of Southern California also killed two people. Authorities said they were found in the same area and apparently died while trying to flee the flames.

Though the heat wave was likely to peak in most places on Tuesday, extremely high temperatures are expected to continue for several more days.

"It is a genuinely dangerous event from a human health perspective," said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California, Los Angeles Institute for Environment and Sustainability

Sacramento County officials were using the air-conditioned lobbies of some of their public buildings as cooling centers for people with nowhere else to go and offering free transportation for people who could not get there. Officials even handed out motel vouchers to some homeless people through a program they normally reserve for the winter, according to county spokeswoman Janna Haynes.

"While a lot of people can stay home, a lot of people do not have a home to stay in," Haynes said.

In state office buildings, thermostats were being set at 85 degrees (29 C) at 5 p.m. to conserve electricity.

Sacramento native Ariana Clark said she couldn't remember it ever being this hot for this long before. She said she turned her air conditioner off in the afternoons to conserve energy and kept her 9-month old son, Benito, cool by filling up a bucket for him to play in outside.

"As long as he's keeping cool that's all that matters," Clark said.

Juliana Hinch, who moved to Sacramento from San Diego 2 1/2 years ago said she has never seen heat like this before. She said some wetlands by her house have mostly dried up, so she leaves water in her front yard "for other random animals," including cats, squirrels and coyotes.

Hinch said she once lived in Washington state but moved away because it was too cold. Now, she said "that sounds like a good problem to have." + Udforsk yderligere

Chance of California power outages up as heat wave worsens

© 2022 The Associated Press. Alle rettigheder forbeholdes. Dette materiale må ikke offentliggøres, udsendes, omskrives eller videredistribueres uden tilladelse.