California sets records for heat wave

[goldengirlz]

As we all know, it’s never JUST the heat: it’s the possibility of rolling blackouts and wildfires that make this more challenging.

www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/us/california-heat-wave-record-labor-day.html

But also, it’s really, REALLY hot. How’s everyone holding up?

We finally have A/C window units in the bedrooms for at night, but they don’t help in the rest of the house. We ended up boarding our cat for Labor Day weekend because we didn’t want her to stay alone in this heat while we were OOT. We pick her up today but I briefly considered keeping her there an extra night or two. Poor kitty.

[ny96]

We took a weekend trip to San Diego and spent most of the weekend at the beach. It was 97 when we returned, but fortunately we have central air. The kids are supposed to start soccer today, but I’m not sure we’ll be going, there are thunderstorms forecasted for Saturday so they likely won’t play their first game either.

[quesyrah]

Ugh. I just booked a hotel for us to stay through Friday. It hasn’t been below 104 in close to a week.

We don’t have central AC. 2 summers ago we installed a ductless mini split in our family room. It’s fabulous. So a couple weeks ago we installed them in the bedrooms.

They have never worked, the company is giving us the runaround on trouble shooting and our bedrooms last night were 94 degrees. The units are blowing warm air and throwing an error code that DH and 3 HVAC technicians haven’t figured out yet.

We’ve been sleeping in the family room but I’m over sleeping on a couch or an air mattress.

So glad we spent $5,000 to not have working AC in the bedrooms during an extreme heat wave 🤬

[konapoppy]

We luckily have AC, but about 5k people nearby lost power last night and I won’t be surprised if we lose power at some point today.

We have all the shades closed, keeping all lights off etc.

It was already 75 when I took the dog for a walk at 5:50 this morning.

I hope folks who need them can get to cooling centers. I’m glad they closed a ton of parks this weekend.

[gretchenindisguise]

It's been so hot. I think Saturday morning it was already 84 at 8:30am.

We have a portable a/c in our bedroom and I got them for the kids' bedrooms last week. But the kids rooms are on the same breaker and we can't run them at the same time without blowing the fuse. So 7yo has been sleeping in our room.

Downstairs is just an oven during the day. I think we topped out at 89 in the house this weekend. Looks like it'll be warm all week with Friday being the worst.

This is one of the worst parts of renting. We can't install solar or central air.

eta: oh and I've been sick so can't even go somewhere to cool down. Pretty sure my fever broke last night at least - but it was not a good night.

[formerlyak]

It was 103 at the beach Sunday. It was nuts. We used the ac for the first time ever, but I also saw first hand how good insulation can help. We only needed to turn it on for a few hours and then the house kept temp all day. We had it on like 11-3, so we could turn it off during peak hours.

It’s supposed to be hot like this for a few more days and then rain on Saturday. I’m guessing since the rain is from a hurricane down by Baja, it will be gross sticky rain. But our area has to not water outside from today through the 20th because they are fixing some main water pipe that feeds our local reservoir, so any kind of rain will help the plants not die.

[Velar Fricative]

I hope everyone impacted feels relief soon. I always forget that it's September and October that are the hottest for CA historically, not July/August like it is for much of the rest of the country.

[goldengirlz]

Sept 6, 2022 9:59:55 GMT -5 ny96 said:

We took a weekend trip to San Diego and spent most of the weekend at the beach. It was 97 when we returned, but fortunately we have central air. The kids are supposed to start soccer today, but I’m not sure we’ll be going, there are thunderstorms forecasted for Saturday so they likely won’t play their first game either.

Thunderstorms in the forecast always make me nervous. The last time we had a summer thunderstorm was in 2020 (because of course) and a huge spate of wildfires broke out.

[mandymay]

Sunday was the worst day. I went out in the morning and when I left the house at 9:30 it was already 102. It got up to 116 where I was until the afternoon.

Our air conditioning stopped working Friday and I freaked out a bit. My husband figured out the issue though, thank goodness! Our house is old and it gets hot so quickly without the air conditioning in the summer. I'm looking forward to the 80 degree temps later this week, but there's a chance of rain/thunderstorms and I'm not looking forward to lightning potentially starting fires.

[savan]

So hot and miserable. We were at a soccer game on Sunday and it was 100 degrees. I think I lost 10 lbs of water weight from sweating all weekend.

We are one of the lucky ones with central a/c but it’s old and our house isn’t insulated so it struggles to keep it below 80 when it’s super hot outside, and we keep it shut off from 4-9. We mostly run it for sleeping at night. We’ve been using our pool to cool off during the day.

[formerlyak]

savan was it the Galaxy game? We were there and it was really hot.

[YeahSure]

Sept 6, 2022 9:06:23 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

But also, it’s really, REALLY hot. How’s everyone holding up?

San Francisco here. They finally updated the heat wave alert that used to say stay inside where it's cool (uh very few households in San Francisco have AC), and now it says find shade outside if it's too warm inside. Waiting for the radios to announce for people to go to the libraries where there's AC. Yeah, we don't have it at my branch (just outside of SF). 

I'm glad you have the window units. they're definitely better than nothing.

DH and I are holding up okay. I worry for the unhoused people most. :/

[goldengirlz]

Sept 6, 2022 12:04:44 GMT -5 YeahSure said:

Sept 6, 2022 9:06:23 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

But also, it’s really, REALLY hot. How’s everyone holding up?

San Francisco here. They finally updated the heat wave alert that used to say stay inside where it's cool (uh very few households in San Francisco have AC), and now it says find shade outside if it's too warm inside. Waiting for the radios to announce for people to go to the libraries where there's AC. Yeah, we don't have it at my branch (just outside of SF). 

I'm glad you have the window units. they're definitely better than nothing.

DH and I are holding up okay. I worry for the unhoused people most. :/

Yeah, the unhoused and the elderly who don’t have anyone looking after them. Even as I posted my update in the OP, I know my concerns are comparatively minor.

My car said it was 82 degrees in SF at 8:30am. That’s crazy for the city!

[1confused1]

We set a record yesterday in my town and today it is supposed to be 116. A good majority of my town lost power yesterday and it still wasn’t back on this morning for some. For the record, we are an hour east of SF, it does get hot here, but not like this.

We were lucky and didn’t lose power and have AC, but I don’t have a lot of faith that we won’t lose power today. It was in the 80s when I left for work, I did set the thermostat at 82 and have fans on, mostly for the dog 😁



@@@@@






They moved my son’s high school football practice to 5:30 am yesterday and today, curious to see if they end up changing the time for the rest of the week.

Stay safe everyone!!

[savan]

Sept 6, 2022 11:48:35 GMT -5 formerlyak said:

savan was it the Galaxy game? We were there and it was really hot.

No, just a local rec game.  After sitting out in it I couldn’t believe all the sports games continued on Sunday.  I saw video from the Angel’s day game and the stands looked almost empty.  Way too hot to be out there.

[wesleycrusher]

Sept 6, 2022 12:11:50 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Sept 6, 2022 12:04:44 GMT -5 YeahSure said:

San Francisco here. They finally updated the heat wave alert that used to say stay inside where it's cool (uh very few households in San Francisco have AC), and now it says find shade outside if it's too warm inside. Waiting for the radios to announce for people to go to the libraries where there's AC. Yeah, we don't have it at my branch (just outside of SF). 

I'm glad you have the window units. they're definitely better than nothing.

DH and I are holding up okay. I worry for the unhoused people most. :/

Yeah, the unhoused and the elderly who don’t have anyone looking after them. Even as I posted my update in the OP, I know my concerns are comparatively minor.

My car said it was 82 degrees in SF at 8:30am. That’s crazy for the city!

The city I live in on the East Coast has cooling centers that open when it is above a certain temp (and conversely in the winter they have warming centers when the temp drops too low).



Is that not a thing in other cities or in CA (like they haven't dealt with this before so no need?)

[Velar Fricative]

Sept 6, 2022 12:25:09 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Sept 6, 2022 12:11:50 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Yeah, the unhoused and the elderly who don’t have anyone looking after them. Even as I posted my update in the OP, I know my concerns are comparatively minor.

My car said it was 82 degrees in SF at 8:30am. That’s crazy for the city!

The city I live in on the East Coast has cooling centers that open when it is above a certain temp (and conversely in the winter they have warming centers when the temp drops too low).



Is that not a thing in other cities or in CA (like they haven't dealt with this before so no need?)

I don't live in CA but I assume even if they have cooling centers (my city does as well), getting people to cooling centers is an entirely different beast. Not every vulnerable person is aware of them, nor do they have loved ones who may know about them or direct them on where to go. 

[1confused1]

Sept 6, 2022 12:25:09 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Sept 6, 2022 12:11:50 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Yeah, the unhoused and the elderly who don’t have anyone looking after them. Even as I posted my update in the OP, I know my concerns are comparatively minor.

My car said it was 82 degrees in SF at 8:30am. That’s crazy for the city!

The city I live in on the East Coast has cooling centers that open when it is above a certain temp (and conversely in the winter they have warming centers when the temp drops too low).



Is that not a thing in other cities or in CA (like they haven't dealt with this before so no need?)

Yes, most cities have opened cooling centers for anyone that needs them.

[wesleycrusher]

Sept 6, 2022 12:41:07 GMT -5 1confused1 said:

Sept 6, 2022 12:25:09 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

The city I live in on the East Coast has cooling centers that open when it is above a certain temp (and conversely in the winter they have warming centers when the temp drops too low).



Is that not a thing in other cities or in CA (like they haven't dealt with this before so no need?)

Yes, most cities have opened cooling centers for anyone that needs them.

Thanks.

I understand the difficulty in logistics in getting people to them, I just know so little about CA temps to know if it was something cities already have a plan for or if it was something entirely new (which can take more time to implement if there is no plan already in place). 

[goldengirlz]

Sept 6, 2022 12:25:09 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Sept 6, 2022 12:11:50 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Yeah, the unhoused and the elderly who don’t have anyone looking after them. Even as I posted my update in the OP, I know my concerns are comparatively minor.

My car said it was 82 degrees in SF at 8:30am. That’s crazy for the city!

The city I live in on the East Coast has cooling centers that open when it is above a certain temp (and conversely in the winter they have warming centers when the temp drops too low).



Is that not a thing in other cities or in CA (like they haven't dealt with this before so no need?)

Sometimes it’s by city, sometimes it’s by county. Transportation can be an issue since public transit isn’t great here.

[quesyrah]

Sept 6, 2022 12:25:09 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Sept 6, 2022 12:11:50 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Yeah, the unhoused and the elderly who don’t have anyone looking after them. Even as I posted my update in the OP, I know my concerns are comparatively minor.

My car said it was 82 degrees in SF at 8:30am. That’s crazy for the city!

The city I live in on the East Coast has cooling centers that open when it is above a certain temp (and conversely in the winter they have warming centers when the temp drops too low).



Is that not a thing in other cities or in CA (like they haven't dealt with this before so no need?)

We have cooling centers in my part of So Cal. Right now the heat is so bad (105/106 every day) that many cooling centers are allowing pets too.

It’s getting to the cooling centers or knowing where they are that’s the biggest issue.

[jewel]

Sacramento area - it was 113 yesterday, 114 today, and over 105 every day for over a week in a row. There are a good number of cooling centers open, but I still worry about the people who don’t know about them or don’t have a way to get there. Public transportation is not great here. Our swim lessons place is closed because of the heat, and I’ve seen lots of other little businesses do the same. Most people have central AC, but it is truly an emergency situation right now if your ac goes out.

I’m in Anaheim this week and it’s been close to 100 every day so far. And the humidity is much higher than I’ve ever experienced here. It feels very, very hot.

[tacom]

We lost power for the first time in years, luckily just a few hours. Our neighbor's hardwired fire alarm has been sounding continuously since that power outage 5 days ago. We can hear it even with our windows closed, and I'm slowly losing my mind. beep beep beep. (The house is vacant and the PD don't have contact information; our HOA is "working on getting this resolved for them."). Small problems -- but SoCal has lost some of its charm the last couple weeks! I am ready to fast forward to January.

[Roc A Bee]

The high is suppose to be 112 here. I can’t complain too much as we have AC and I work in AC.

I keep looking at the 10 day forecast and the 80s and 90s are coming. I cannot wait.

[Roc A Bee]

Sept 6, 2022 10:41:10 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

I hope everyone impacted feels relief soon. I always forget that it's September and October that are the hottest for CA historically, not July/August like it is for much of the rest of the country.

This is only true for a portion of CA. Most of the state is seeing record heat now, but it will cool down for September and October. I’m seeing upper 80s and 90s in the next 5-10 days, and I’m so excited.

[nsl]

I follow an earthquake scientist on Twitter who's in Northridge, and he's been experimenting with baking bread in his car (a very specific type of Icelandic bread that's traditionally baked in low heat from geothermal vents) for the last 24 hours. It seems to be working:

[pixy0stix]

The bread thing is killing me. I bet his car smells like heaven.

[minzy]

My cousin is trying to get people ice and water and to cooling centers. I don’t know how organized her effort is or if she’s doing it alone but I venmoed her some money to try to help. I hope it breaks soon.

[ellipses84]

Our A/C hasn’t been working and it’s been rough. We are less than 10 miles from open ocean and like 5 miles from a bay, on top of a hill that is typically very windy. I feel like this heat wave has been different because there’s just no breeze and it hasn’t been cooling off at night like it normally does.

[formerlyak]

I feel like relief is coming. Yesterday I only turned the AC on for two hours and in the evening we opened all the windows and used fans and it was quite cool. We even needed blankets. And this morning when I went out it wasn’t nearly as hot feeling as yesterday morning. I hope the coolness moves inland soon, as I imagine the firefighters in the IE are miserable.