Record High Temperatures
Fire Spreads for Second Day, Destroying Area Three Times the Size of Yeouido
A heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius has continued for several days in Los Angeles (LA), the largest city in the western United States.
Amid the extremely hot and dry climate, wildfires broke out, and on the 7th (local time), earthquakes measuring 3.9 and 3.5 in magnitude occurred consecutively, causing anxiety among residents.
On the 6th (local time), an unofficial temperature sign in West Hills, northwest LA County [Image source=AP Yonhap News]
According to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) on that day, the highest temperature recorded at the Burbank Airport observation station in LA County the previous day was 114 degrees Fahrenheit (45.6 degrees Celsius).
This matches the all-time highest temperature records set on July 6, 2018, and September 5-6, 2020, since temperature observations began there in 1939.
Downtown LA recorded 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius), Long Beach Airport in the south recorded 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 degrees Celsius), and LA International Airport on the west coast recorded 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius), all setting new daily high records.
In the LA area, the highest temperatures began rising to the high 30s Celsius from the 2nd, and most inland areas started exceeding 40 degrees Celsius from the 4th.
The NWS LA office maintained the heatwave warning, stating that although temperatures will drop compared to the previous day from that day until Monday the 9th, "dangerously hot conditions will persist."
John Duma, a meteorologist at the NWS LA office, told the local daily LA Times, "This heatwave is the most severe one experienced in the LA metropolitan area in recent years."
Dry air with humidity around 20 percent has been heated above 40 degrees Celsius, raising the fire risk in the region higher than ever.
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a wildfire broke out in the mountainous area of San Bernardino County east of LA on the evening of the 5th and has been spreading for two days. The wildfire has destroyed 3,832 acres (15.5 square kilometers), which is about three times the size of Yeouido (4.5 square kilometers).
The local fire department has deployed about 500 firefighters and helicopters to suppress the fire, but the containment rate remains at 0%.
The local law enforcement issued evacuation orders to residents near the fire area that morning.
Due to the extreme heat, power demand for air conditioning has surged, causing blackouts in various places.
According to Southern California Edison, the power grid management company in the area, electricity was cut off to 5,700 households in LA County and about 600 households in San Bernardino County that morning.
In eastern Pasadena, LA County, 8,800 households experienced a blackout for about 90 minutes the previous afternoon.
However, the California Independent System Operator, which oversees the entire state's electricity market, stated that there is currently sufficient power to meet demand across the state.
To make matters worse, on the same morning, earthquakes measuring 3.5 and 3.9 in magnitude occurred consecutively in Ontario, San Bernardino County.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), at 10:05 a.m. that day, a magnitude 3.5 earthquake occurred at a depth of 5.9 km underground south of Ontario International Airport, followed 29 minutes later at 10:34 a.m. by a magnitude 3.9 earthquake at a depth of 4.9 km underground at nearly the same location.
Although the earthquake magnitudes were small and the shaking was weak, tremors were felt in downtown LA, Orange County, and northern San Diego County.
The Ontario Police Department reported that no damage from the earthquakes has been reported so far.
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