(CNN) – Strong winds, some with gusts of up to 100 mph, have begun to punch Southern California, raising already sweltering temperatures on Friday as a tropical storm approaches that could drop a year of rain and threatens dangerous flash floods in a been hit by drought.
The extreme weather comes as tropical storm Kay moves north after landing in Mexico on Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane. Although Kay has weakened to become a tropical storm, it still has sustained winds of 65 km / h (40 mph). ). And winds over mountainous terrain, similar to a Santa Ana wind event, are increasing in much stronger gusts, including a 175km / h gust this Friday at Cuyamaca Peak in the Cuyamaca Mountains. San Diego, the National Meteorological Service reported.
A worker walks through a dry sunflower field in August near Sacramento, California.
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As Kay winds push hot, dry air from the east, much of southern and central California, already experiencing a heatwave fueled by the climate crisis, will remain under excessive heat warning until 8pm Friday. And concern is growing that irregular, strong winds will fuel the spread of fires, including the Fairview Fire, which killed two people and exploded in size this week, burning more than 11,000 acres.
“With really strong winds, we could still record how the fires that are already burning continue to spread before the rain actually gets here,” said the National Weather Service of San Diego a CNN.
Kay’s rain started falling this Friday in far southern California, including San Diego, and far southwestern Arizona, including Yuma, as the risk of flash flooding increases.
The weather service said in a Update 13:40 PT that heavy rain continued in the San Diego deserts and the rain bands were pushing into Orange and Riverside Counties.
While the rain is expected to arrive on Saturday to quell the sweltering heat, bringing relief to weary residents and power grid operators who had prepared for power outages, it could also trigger debris flows, especially in fire-ravaged places.
A flash flood warning is in effect for the southwestern imperial county. And the weather service office in Flagstaff, Arizona, warned of flash floods life-threatening in Cococino County at “low tide crossings, streams, normally dry washes and highways”. Grand Canyon National Park is included in the notice, the Weather Service said.
Flood watches cover more than 6 million people in Southern California, including Palm Springs, Riverside and Barstow; Southern Nevada, including Las Vegas; and western Arizona, including Yuma, Lake Havasu City, and Kingman.
And while the western United States has been in drought for months, receiving up to 100mm of rain in just two days won’t bring the kind of recovery needed. Indeed, the Imperial Valley region, home to one of the country’s most productive agricultural areas and hit by severe drought since early spring, is preparing for severe damage.
“Imperial Valley farmers are preparing their land for planting season, so 1/2 to 1 inch rain will cause damage and delay their schedule,” said Robert Schettler, spokesman for the Imperial Irrigation District.
Although Kay’s damage is still uncertain, the storm is expected to leave a trail of more moderate temperatures as it recedes from the US west coast and heads into the Pacific on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, wildfires continue to rage across Northern California and Oregon faces an increased fire danger due to the arrival of strong easterly winds from another weather system.
The records of temperature and precipitation could decrease
Temperatures above 100 ° F (37.7 ° C) are likely to continue this Friday across much of California, so temperature records should be set before Kay cools temperatures.
Los Angeles Meteorological Authority reported a temperature of 97 ° F (36 ° C) on Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport, surpassing the previous record for the date of September 8, set in 1984.
The city of Paso Robles, California also broke the record for that date, with 42.2 ° C (108 ° F); its previous record of 41.1 ° C (106 ° F) was set last year.
Behind the hot, fast and heavy deluge could also rewrite the record books. This Friday and Saturday, 50 to 100mm in 36 hours are expected at Imperial County Airport, which receives an average of 60mm of rain annually. If Imperial receives more than 76mm of rain, this will be the wettest month on record; the previous wettest September was in 1976.
In Palm Springs, which normally receives 116mm of rain per year, 50 to 100mm is expected. If 76 mm falls in Palm Springs, this month would be among the three wettest September in the city, where the average rainfall in September is 6 mm.
Yuma could receive 38mm, making 2022 the wettest September since 2009. The city’s average September rainfall is 17mm.
Fires hit California and Oregon
While rain would surely help firefighters fight fires, much damage has already been done: California Governor Gavin Newsom declared state of emergency in three counties on Thursday due to two fires.
In addition to the Fairview Fire, the Mosquito Fire, in northern California’s El Dorado and Placer counties, burned 11,900 acres and is 0% contained, according to InciWeb, a national fire information clearinghouse. The fire threatens more than 3,600 structures, according to a Friday update on the site.
Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Placer County e ordered evacuation of some residents of El Dorado County, according to authorities.
“Both fires are threatening multiple communities and critical infrastructure, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents,” said the governor’s office it’s a statement.
Oregon, meanwhile, is facing strong easterly winds that will increase the danger of fires across the state due to a separate weather system from Kay.
“A red flag warning … will be in effect this FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, due to the expected strong easterly winds and low humidity. These conditions can cause rapid fire spread.” tweeted the National Weather Service in Portland.
Wind gusts in the region are expected to be between 40 and 80 km / h (25 to 50 mph), according to a tweet from the Meteorological Service of Portland.
Utilities Pacific Power and Portland General Electric have announced they could proactively shut down power in some high-risk areas to reduce the risk of fire.
The outages will occur “in a limited high-risk area to help reduce the risk of fires and to help protect people, property and the environment,” Portland General Electric said in a statement. The measure could affect about 30,000 meters in the Portland and Salem area of Oregon, according to the company.
About 12,000 Pacific Power customers in Linn, Douglas, Lincoln, Tillamook, Marion and Polk counties have been notified of the potential outages, the supplier said. it’s a statement.
– Taylor Ward, Allison Chinchar, Christina Maxouris, Steve Almasy, Stephanie Elam, Ella Nilsen, Paradise Afshar and Chris Boyette contributed to the report.
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