Killer heat wave bakes California
The mercury eclipsed the century mark throughout the area, sending millions of people to the beaches for relief on the Labor Day holiday. Weather forecasters called for the harsh conditions to continue, but a slight cooling at the end the week.
In downtown Los Angeles, the temperature reached 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 C), and set records along the coast in Long Beach (103 degrees/39 C) and 56 miles inland in Riverside (112 degrees/44 C).
In the suburb of Valley Village, 13 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, an unidentified couple in their 80s were found dead in their apartment on September 2. Fire officials said the temperature inside was more than 110 degrees (43 Celsius). They said the man was disabled, and his wife may have been unable to reach the air conditioning control.
During the heat wave, 396,893 of Southern California Edison's 4.7 million customers - 8.4 percent - lost power "from a few minutes to longer," the Edison International-owned utility said.
By September 3, 9,000 customers of the city-owned Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's 1.4 million customers were reportedly without power.
Related News
Electric cars will challenge state power grids
WASHINGTON - When Seattle City Light unveiled five new electric vehicle charging stations last month in an industrial neighborhood south of downtown, the electric utility wasn't just offering a new spot for drivers to fuel up. It also was creating a way for the service to figure out how much more power it might need as electric vehicles catch on.
Seattle aims to have nearly a third of its residents driving electric vehicles by 2030. Washington state is No. 3 in the nation in per capita adoption of plug-in cars, behind California and Hawaii. But as Washington and other states urge…
