Heat wave hits peak, on its way out
The Lodi area can breathe a sigh of relief: The punishing heat wave that has baked the area since last Friday is on its way out.
“It’s going to be back down to more typical levels for us,” said Ken Clark, senior meteorologist for the private forecasting service AccuWeather.com.
While Thursday reached a high of 108, just a few degrees cooler than the forecasted 112, Friday was expected to reach a high of about 105, and temperatures will be slowly dropping over the weekend.
By Tuesday or Wednesday, highs should be in the low 90s, Clark said.
On Thursday, Lodi residents were trying to get out of the heat. A handful of parents brought their young children to the library for the air conditioning and some entertainment in the children’s section.
“We’re trying to find something to do inside,” said Marissa Casillas, who brought her daughter Anastasia Casillas, 3, to the library.
However, library employee Martha Myles, who works at both the reference and circulation desks, said the number of visitors wasn’t much higher than usual.
“People must be finding someplace else to get out of the heat,” she said.
At least a few of the families visiting the library during the heat wave had headed there after outdoor sports practices were canceled, though, she said.
The cooling station at the Salvation Army wasn’t seeing as many visitors as they’d hoped, either.
“It’s kind of weird, our numbers have been down for some reason,” shelter director John Narvaez said.
He and his staff were undeterred. The Salvation Army building will continue to offer cold water and a cool place to rest between noon and 4 p.m. during the last couple of days of the heat wave. They’re also opening the dining room to the public after dinner cleanup until 8 p.m.
It’s not just the cooling center numbers that are surprisingly low, Narvaez said. The shelter has 20 overnight beds for men and 16 for women, but right now they have only about 15 clients total making use of the sleeping space, Narvaez said.
However, the shelter’s numbers have always ebbed and flowed, he said.
“Our goal is not to send anybody away,” he said.
The heat wave that started late last week set a few records in Stockton, Clark said, but without official records for Lodi, it’s hard to tell if any local records were broken. Still, it was certainly possible, he said.
“(On Wednesday) the record was 111 in Stockton, but it only got to 107 there. It got to 110 in Lodi,” he said.
The highs on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday all tied or set new records for Stockton, he added.
The worst should be over now — at least until the next heat wave. The National Weather Service, which has rated the Lodi area as high or very high heat risk over the past few days, will lower the local risk to “moderate” for the weekend.
Looking ahead, the weather should stay in the mid-90s range through the July 4 holiday, aside from a hot day or two, according to the forecast at AccuWeather.com.
“(Thursday’s) probably going to be your hottest day,” Clark said.