A record-breaking heat wave has sweltered across the West for days — fueling devastating wildfires and threatening rolling blackouts in California — and could last even longer due to the effects of a powerful hurricane along Mexico’s Pacific coast.   

  Sacramento hit 116 degrees Tuesday, the hottest day on record for the state capital, according to the National Weather Service.  Records were also broken across the Bay Area, with some cities breaking previous daily records by more than 10 points.   

  “Now we’re headed for the worst part — the risk of a holiday is real,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a tweet Tuesday, adding that temperatures in the state were “unprecedented.”   

  The heat wave will be the hottest and longest September on record for California, he said.   

  Californians have been told for days to set their thermostats at 78 degrees or higher — despite the heat — as well as avoid using large appliances and turn off all unnecessary lights between 4 p.m.  and 9 p.m.   

  That continued Wednesday as the California Independent System Operator, which runs most of the state’s power grid, issued a Flex Alert for the 8th consecutive day, urging residents to conserve energy as operators expect peak demand to reach the 51,211 megawatts.   

  Pacific Gas & Electric, the nation’s largest utility, has alerted about 525,000 customers to prepare for possible rotating outages.   

  California’s Independent System Operator issued an emergency alert for Tuesday afternoon, saying grid conditions had worsened and power supplies were insufficient to meet demand.  The alarm was lifted hours later and the operator thanked “consumer conservation”.   

  While relief was expected on Thursday, the oppressive heat is now expected to last until at least Friday.   

  Hurricane Kay will bring heavy rains and strong winds to the Mexican coast, but away from its center, the storm will also dictate the weather pattern for Southern California.   

  Kay will still be about 220 miles south of San Diego on Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles, but the flow around the storm will bring easterly winds to the area, which could bring extreme heat into the beaches.  .   

  The weather service in San Diego has extended an extreme heat warning for the region through Friday to account for the possibility of high temperatures reaching the 90s to 100 degrees on the coast.   

  The man-made climate crisis is boosting extreme weather in California, climate and weather experts told CNN, pushing temperatures to record highs this month.   

  And the ongoing heat wave may, in fact, be one of the worst on record for any month, not just September, UCLA scientist Daniel Swain said in a Twitter Spaces discussion Tuesday.   

  “This is going to be essentially the worst September heat wave on record, certainly in Northern California and arguably for the state as a whole,” Swain said.  “By some metrics, it may be one of the worst heat waves on record, period, in any month, given its duration and its extreme magnitude, especially in Northern California and especially in the Sacramento area.”   

  Jan Null, a California meteorologist and owner of Golden Gate Weather Services, pointed to San Jose, which reached 109 degrees on Tuesday, breaking an all-time high temperature record.  Nine of the city’s 10 hottest days occurred in the 21st century, he said – a sign that the climate crisis is fueling extreme heat.  “And all the modeling shows we’re going to see more frequent heat waves and longer heat waves,” Null said.   

  “In some ways,” he said, “this is the new normal.”   

  Several heat records have been set across the West, according to the weather service.   

  In California, the San Francisco airport hit 97 degrees on Monday, breaking a daily record.  Salinas reached 103 points, breaking the previous record of 92 points set in 2004. Livermore reached a record high of 116.   

  Salt Lake City hit 104 on Monday, the hottest September day on record and also the 32nd day this year with temperatures of at least 100 degrees, beating the previous record by 11 days.   

  Temperatures in Billings, Montana, reached 100 degrees on Monday, tying a previous record.  This was the first time Billings reached 100 points twice in the same September.   

  Scientists say the heat wave is part of a global warming pattern and climate change is making heat waves hotter and more frequent.   

  Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have warmed the planet by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, and this warmer base value means higher temperatures can be reached during extreme temperatures, scientists say.   

  Hot and dry conditions also mean fires will spread faster, burn more intensely and burn longer.   

  Several devastating wildfires broke out last week, with at least four people killed in two wildfires in California that also burned homes and thousands of acres of land.

SATELLITE ALERT: @NOAA’s #GOESWest was monitoring #smoke from the numerous #fires burning across the western US yesterday. Some of the largest fires burning across the region include the #CedarCreekFire & #DoubleCreekFire in Oregon and the #RossForkFire in Idaho. pic.twitter.com/s23wfMKCXz — NOAA Satellites – Public Affairs (@NOAASatellitePA) September 6, 2022 The wildfires, burning simultaneously in dry, drought-stricken lands, have choked the hot atmosphere with smoke, bringing unhealthy air quality to parts of the western states.

  Thick smoke billowing from multiple fires is visible from space, according to images released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.   

  The fires have also displaced thousands of residents as flames spread through communities, slashing dry vegetation and burning homes and cars.   

  Two people were killed as the Fairview wildfire quickly blew through parched vegetation in Southern California on Monday, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate.  The fire had burned 4,500 acres by Tuesday and was 5 percent contained.   

  To the north, in Siskiyou County, two women, ages 66 and 73, died in the Mill Fire that has burned 4,263 acres and destroyed 98 structures as of Tuesday night.   

  Nearby, the Mountain Fire, also burning in Siskiyou County, has burned through 11,690 acres.   

  In Oregon, the Cedar Creek Fire had consumed 17,625 acres in five days after it was sparked by lightning, authorities said.   

  Meanwhile, the Ross Fork Fire in Idaho that started in mid-August continues to burn and has consumed 26,020 acres.  Firefighters were 2 percent contained Tuesday.