Intense heat grips cities across West

Thursday, July 11, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Scorching heat is testing California's power reserves and raising concerns about more wildfires in the already-dry West.

States throughout the region sizzled under record temperatures expected to last through most of the week, with triple-digit temperatures forecast as far north as Idaho and Montana.

In Las Vegas, thunderstorms headed toward the city lost their steam on the Arizona-Nevada border late Wednesday afternoon, but they still brought strong winds that knocked out electricity to about 8,000 Nevada Power customers.

In Reno, swimming pools were jammed, residents gobbled up ice cream and fire officials said the heat set off a ceiling sprinkler in at least one home. Temperatures soared to 108 degrees Wednesday, breaking an all-time high set in 1931.

"We can't even breathe out there, so we decided to get ice cream instead," Jaime Ramey, 24, said after canceling a round of miniature golf with friends.

Redding, Calif., was expected to break its all-time high of 118 degrees today, and governors and aides arriving in Boise, Idaho, on Friday for the National Governors Association meeting will be greeted by 107-degree temperatures, forecasters said.

Record temperatures were expected to continue across California today, setting up a possible third straight day of power alerts. Still, regulators said they didn't expect to order the rolling blackouts that left thousands without power last year.

Electricity use has been consistently higher this summer than on comparable days last year, said Stephanie McCorkle, spokeswoman for California's Independent System Operator, which oversees the state's power grid.

"That tells us two things. One, that conservation has slacked off, which we knew would happen when people weren't facing blackouts and two, that the economy is recovering," she said.

The winds kicked up dust and gusted between 30 mph and nearly 60 mph in Southern Nevada, snarling traffic when signals went out at intersections on the eastern side of the Las Vegas Valley after 7 p.m.

Power was restored to Las Vegas residents about 10 p.m., but some outages continued at Indian Springs northeast of Las Vegas and Sandy Valley southwest of the city, law enforcement officers reported.

Intersections without traffic signals included Eastern and Owens avenues, Flamingo Road and McLeod Drive and Eastern and Flamingo. Another small outage about 9:45 p.m. near Eastern and Owens avenues affected about 150 customers, but was not wind-related, Nevada Power spokeswoman Sonya Headen said. Power was restored about 11 p.m.

Las Vegas firefighters extinguished a small brush fire in the northwestern part of the valley near Silk Purse Ranch within an hour last night. The one- to two-acre fire created more smoke than damage, Deputy Chief Jeff Morgan said. Firefighters continued to douse the area with water for several hours to keep the flames from rekindling.

The highest gust at McCarran International Airport was 38 mph after 6:30 p.m., the National Weather Service reported.

Nellis Air Force Base clocked winds at 48 mph, weather service meteorologist Charlie Schlott said. Before the winds blew in, temperatures reached 109 degrees.

A gust of 57 mph hit Hemenway Harbor at Lake Mead.

Clouds moved from the north but skirted around Las Vegas, keeping thunderstorm activity out of the valley.

There is still a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, but the bulk of the seasonal moisture typical in the Southwest at this time of year has not reached Southern Nevada, Schlott said.

Temperatures could be about 105 degrees Thursday, warming up to 109 degrees Friday as sunshine returns, the weather service said.

The intense heat may have contributed to a power loss at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in California that puts planes in line to land at Sacramento International Airport and three smaller airports in the area.

The outage forced some planes to circle up to and hour and a half, said Cheryl Demetriff, Sacramento airport spokeswoman. Other planes bound for the airports were kept on the ground until the congestion was cleared, FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder said. "Air safety was not compromised," he said.

The same pressure system that trapped the heat also trapped smog in California. Air quality districts in the Bay Area and Central Valley declared "Spare the Air Days" on Wednesday, urging residents to use mass transit rather than their cars.

The brutal heat also has fire officials eyeing parched landscapes.

In Oakland's fire-prone hills, officials asked residents not to open fire hydrants for refreshment to avoid depleting the needed resource.

"The hotter it is, the more likely it is to burn," said Karen Terrill, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry. "A spark that was harmless last week could really flare up this week."