LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — While a week of record-breaking temperatures across Northern California isn’t over just yet, a break in the late summer heat wave is in sight.
The National Weather Service’s excessive heat warning for a large swath of California will remain in effect until 10 p.m. Friday.
In Lake County, forecasters are warning of dangerously hot conditions on Friday, with temperatures of up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s been the case all this week, with reports of temperatures that topped 110 degrees coming in from around Lake County, peaking midweek.
This week’s hot temperatures have led the California Independent System Operator, or Cal ISO — which operates the state’s energy grid — to issue several energy emergency alerts and flex alerts because of the stress on the power supply as Californians try to stay cool.
Cal ISO said Thursday night that it has issued a flex alert for 4 to 9 p.m. Friday.
“We are grateful to Californians and our many partners across the West who continue to help the #ISO work through this very challenging week,” Cal ISO said in a Thursday night tweet.
While the National Weather Service is anticipating more “unseasonably hot afternoon temperatures” continuing through Friday, there’s hopeful news in the forecast.
The agency said a significant cooling trend will occur this weekend with below normal temperatures likely next week.
Forecasters said temperatures will begin to moderate this weekend as a trough — an area of low pressure in the atmosphere — approaches the North Coast. The National Weather Service said troughs extend toward the equator and usually are associated with cool, wet weather.
Moisture from Hurricane Kay is expected to spread over the North Coast from Saturday night to early Sunday, although the Lake County forecast does not indicate rain will result. However, conditions are expected to be cooler.
“An upper level trough will linger across the area next week resulting in cooler weather and below normal high temperatures,” the National Weather Service said in its long-range forecast.
The specific Lake County forecast calls for daytime temperatures dropping into the high 80s to low 90s on Saturday, and then into the lower 80s through Monday, and into the high 70s through Thursday.
Nighttime temperatures will range from the high 60s over the weekend into the low 50s through late next week.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.