Calif. braces for severe heat wave

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO

Dozens of cooling centers opened throughout California, schools let students out early and outdoor events were canceled as temperatures soared from a heat wave expected to last through the Labor Day weekend.

In normally cool and foggy San Francisco, temperatures reached 98 degrees Friday afternoon, well above the city’s 90-degree record set for this day in 1950. Across the bay, Livermore will reach 115 degrees, a temperature last seen in 1950, forecasters said.

Managers of California’s power grid asked for voluntary electricity conservation as forecasters predicted more extreme heat statewide.

Southern California has also had lightning, thunder, downpours and localized street flooding fed by monsoonal moisture.

Forecasters said more could be expected when remnants of Tropical Storm Lidia move north from Mexico’s Baja California during the weekend.