The sun is more than 90 million miles from Earth.
This week, it felt like parts of San Diego County broke from orbit to barrel straight toward the solar surface.
Thursday was the county’s hottest day in four years. Heat beat down on hospitals, roasted playgrounds and cooked tents. Multiple neighborhoods saw their thermometers rise to the triple digits: Escondido hit 104 degrees, as did Gillespie Field. El Cajon and Santee went higher still while Ramona was at 111.
“The high pressure system is lingering,” said Dan Munyan, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. “Temperatures are going to get into the upper 90s and low 100s into Monday, and there won’t be much relief at night.”
The agency extended its excessive heat warning for land east of Interstate 15 through at least Sept. 9.
Some good news? The air conditioning should keep working.
“The power grid is currently stable,” the California Independent System Operator, which manages electricity flow across much of the state, said in a statement. Officials added that there were no imminent plans to issue a Flex Alert asking residents to reduce energy use.
That’s a change from two years ago. On Sept. 6, 2022, Californians used more than 52,000 megawatts of electricity, an all-time high, and residents received nearly a dozen Flex Alerts throughout the year. In comparison, the demand at noon Thursday hovered around 35,200 megawatts.
The state’s system operator did ask residents to “be ready in case we need to call for voluntary conservation.”
Yet thousands of people countywide have little power to rely on.
More than 6,100 individuals were living in tents, vehicles or on the street at the start of the year, and outreach workers have scrambled to distribute bottled water. “We’re handing out cases and cases and cases,” said Bob McElroy, CEO of Alpha Project.
Tuesday Moon, an outreach worker with Father Joe’s Villages’ street health team, said they were driving around several times a day offering hats, rechargeable fans and directions to shade. While officials have said heat annually sends hundreds of people to emergency rooms countywide, Moon said she hadn’t yet needed to call 911 for anyone they’d encountered.
The extreme heat also brought warnings for those working outside. State rules say employees must be able to get out of the sun whenever temperatures exceed 80 degrees and water should similarly be nearby.
Crews that clean streets and sidewalks have been especially affected. “They are trained to spot signs of heat exhaustion and look out for one another,” said Aaron Hunter, a spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation. “Most importantly, they make sure to stay hydrated.”
High temperatures can be particularly threatening to kids.
In schools around the region, teachers ushered students inside. Outdoor recess was a no-go. The same went for lunch. East County’s Grossmont Union High School District continues to weigh whether to cancel sports practices and games.
Officials countywide said all classrooms have air conditioning, although the age and quality of each system may vary from school to school. Some leaders are pursuing bond measures this November to pay for further upgrades.
To stay cool, experts recommend avoiding alcohol, wearing light clothing and moving slowly, among other suggestions.
Many residents spent the day in one of the region’s designated “cool zones,” which can include public libraries.
“This space is really important,” Katie Keeley, a student at Grossmont College, said inside the Santee library. “Most people are trying to get out of the house because they don’t have the money to afford the electricity bill.”
Staff writer Paul Sisson contributed to this report.