Inland communities brace for triple-digit heat as major warm-up develops
KCAL News has issued a Next Weather Alert ahead of the upcoming weather event to prepare communities for the scorching heat that could impact daily life.
The alert has been issued for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the Inland Empire, valleys and high deserts.
A Next Weather Alert has been issued for the Inland Empire, valleys and high deserts starting on Wednesday. Temperatures could reach up to 105 degrees in some areas.
KCAL News
KCAL News Meteorologist Amber Lee says conditions could reach record-breaking heat.
The National Weather Service is urging vulnerable populations to take extra precautions during the hot weather period. Weather officials say the hottest days should be Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures expected to reach up to 105 degrees in the valleys, deserts and lower mountains. Coastal communities will experience a slight warm-up as well, but conditions will remain between 70 and 80 degrees.
Vulnerable populations:
Pregnant individuals
Newborn children
Young children
The elderly
People with chronic illnesses
The NWS recommends people drink plenty of water, use air conditioners and stay in the shade and wear loose-fitting clothes.
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Blame Cast After Texas Floods: Were Warnings Too Late Or Too Weak?
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31 minutes ago
These are the factors that contributed to the extreme Texas flooding
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Messaging challenges While the threat of the flooding was communicated more than a day before the rain event began, the timing of the emergency -- during the middle of the night -- may have contributed to the high death toll. The Texas Department of Emergency Management activated state emergency response resources in anticipation of increased threats of flooding in parts of west and central Texas heading into the holiday weekend, it noted in a press release. In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration included the flash flooding risk in its three-to-seven-day hazards outlook, according to Shepherd. Flash flood warnings, including the flash flood emergency -- the highest alert for flash floods -- are distributed by the NWS in the same manner as tornado warnings: via the national EAS and WEA alert systems. "There were indications days to hours in advance, but there's still questions about getting it across the goal line," Shepherd said. "Normalcy bias" may have played a role as well, since people in the region are used to receiving flood warnings, Shepherd added. "People perceive that they're used to these types of events, although their benchmarks in their minds might not prepare them for like an anomaly or a 'black swan' type of it," he said. While there are questions about cell phone service and access for a way to receive the NWS and other emergency alerts, NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR), which are battery powered and have better nationwide coverage reliability than cell service, are a long-standing and reliable alternative highly recommend by NWS and meteorologists across the country . NWR is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest NWS office. It broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every camper and camp -- as well as every person in the country -- should have a NOAA radio, ABC News Chief Meteorologist and Chief Climate Correspondent Ginger Zee said. "This is battery powered and will wake you from a dead sleep," Zee said. "The timely warnings from NWS that night can be programmed to go off and would wake folks and give them at least a few minutes, if not longer, to seek higher ground." With a NOAA weather radio, a flash flood warning would have blared around 1:14 a.m. local time, about three hours in advance of the catastrophic flooding, Zee said. The weekend flooding killed at least 94 people -- many of whom were campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls camp situated on the Guadalupe River. At least 11 campers are still unaccounted for, officials said on Monday. "This terrible tragedy highlights why policymakers need to continue making robust investments in science-based weather and climate models and forecasts, alongside investing in a robust local emergency alert system and disaster response and recovery," Rachel Cleetus, policy director and lead economist for the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told ABC News.' "We won't be able to completely eliminate every risk, but we cannot let reckless cuts to critical agency functions, including NOAA and FEMA, put more people in danger especially as climate change fuels worsening disaster," Cleetus added.
