Some Valley temperatures could break records this week. Here’s Merced County’s forecast
Forecasters aren’t expecting the Merced area to break any temperature records this week, but the hot weather is projected to keep getting hotter.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to rise to 104 degrees.
While blisteringly hot, that temperature doesn’t quite reach the region’s record of 109 degrees in 1928, NWS meteorologist Carlos Molina told the Sun-Star.
“(Merced is) close, but it’s still five degrees below for Wednesday,” Molina said. “Pretty much everyone in the Valley will hit 100 degrees.”
Other Valley regions are expected to break heat records Wednesday, according to the NWS. Fresno is projected to breach the 1890 record of 102 degrees, Hanford could break its 1904 record of 103 degrees and Madera is expected to ascend past its previous high of 101 degrees in 1982.
Valley residents are advised to be cautious during those especially hot days.
If possible, outdoor activity should be limited to the cooler morning and evening hours and avoid anything strenuous outside between peak temperature hours, which typically occur from 3 to 6 p.m., Molina said.
Individuals should also drink plenty of fluids and wear light clothes that reflect the heat to keep themselves cool, he added.
Merced’s weather forecast this week
Wednesday is the only day projected to reach triple digits in Merced this week. Monday and Tuesday’s highs are forecast at 94 and 98 degrees, respectively, according to the NWS.
Hot temperatures will subside to 61 degrees Monday night, but only go as low as 67 degrees Tuesday.
Wednesday’s peak of 104 will descend to a low of 65 degrees that night.
Temperatures are expected to cool off to a high of 97 degrees Thursday, 91 Friday and 87 Saturday. Thursday’s low is 62. Friday and Saturday’s low temperatures will drop to the high 50s.
Those cooler days will be ushered in by a storm system moving south from the Pacific Northwest, Molina said.
No rainfall is anticipated to accompany that storm, but it will bring with it higher wind speeds ranging from 10 to 20 mph Thursday through Saturday night in Merced.
Drought continues across California
While the sunny skies shine on, Merced and most of the state continue to experience severe drought conditions, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System. So far, this year has been the driest to date in 128 years of record keeping.
As summer approaches, the state’s peak wildfire season nears, too.
Cal Fire’s 2022 fire season outlook states that extended dryness originating from January is expected to continue into the spring with little precipitation, leaving most of the state in moderate to extreme drought conditions prior to summer.
Those dry conditions, as well as above normal temperatures through spring, could contribute to increasing wildfires this season, according to Cal Fire.
Merced County is in the midst of its second driest year on record. Just 1.65 inches of precipitation have been measured in Merced since January, according to the NWS.
Average precipitation measured for the region for this time of year is 7.94 inches. This year is drier than last year, when 4.72 inches were tallied between January and May, Molina said.
Precipitation measurements are slightly more optimistic counting from the water year, which begins in October and ends in September next year. Merced currently tallies at 7.44 inches, whereas normal for this time of year is 11.51 inches. Conditions were roughly the same during this period in the water year last year, Molina said.
However, improved snowpack levels and runoff from late-season storms allowed the Merced Irrigation District Board of Directors last week to boost the available surface water supply from Lake McClure to growers and decrease the cost of allocated water last week.
