 I'm Brian May live in the Cal OAS newsroom and we are breaking in this afternoon just because it's so hot in California. We wanted to give you an update on what the conditions are like, what we're looking for for the rest of the week, and then ways that we can avoid the heat and the dangers associated with this heat. So joining me now live, Michelle Mead from the National Weather Service in Sacramento. Michelle, first of all, thank you very much for taking some time out of your day to join us this afternoon, this morning. Thank you, Brian, for having me. Let's talk about what we're looking at conditions wise, what your forecast looks like for the next 24, 48 hours, and why we're looking at these conditions right now. So we're in the end of July and this is typically our hot season for the state of California. But as we've all been aware, the southeast corner of the state down near Phoenix and even as far west as Los Angeles has experienced record breaking, not only high temperatures, but overnight low temperatures as well. And that's because of a ridge of high pressure, which is basically stagnant air that sits over us and basically pushes down along the communities and makes for excessive heat. That ridge is actually building northward over us. And we're seeing not only our daytime highs creeping up, but also our overnight lows are also going to be very warm. And I don't think people realize just how much those overnight lows staying so high factor into what the overall temperature is like, right? Right, it's actually the overnight lows when the body and livestock and communities, that's when everybody recuperates, even the electric grid for your air conditioner. When we aren't able to get into the low 70s or even upper 60s, everyone's air conditioners working, the livestock's not able to recuperate. And it puts a strain on the next day's heat because your body hasn't had enough time to cool down, so to speak. And it's hot across the state, but the really high numbers that you're looking at are predominantly in the south, right? That's what they have been and like I mentioned, they're creeping north. As we all know in the Central Valley, we do get the benefits of the Delta influence. Well, even that is kind of creeping a little less inward in inland as it has in the past. So you'll probably notice if you're in the Northern and Central Sacramento Valley, we actually upgraded to an extreme or excessive heat warning because of those overnight low temperatures. And we expanded the heat advisory as far south as the Sacramento area and included the foothills of the Sierra as well because of those warm overnight lows. I see the colors on that map that we had up. I'll let you kind of explain what that means because right in the center of the state is purple and kind of surrounding it, the orange kind of tell me what that means. Right, correct. So the excessive heat warning is in the purple area and the heat advisory is in the orange. Basically, the difference here is the minimum temperatures. The purple area, we're going to see high temperatures anywhere from 108 to 112 degrees with minimum temperatures mainly in the 70s to low 80s. Where you see the orange areas, we're going to see high temperatures more in the 103 to 108 area, but the overnight lows will dip into the upper, I'm sorry, the mid 60s to low 70s. So we are going to see, like I said, a little more influence from the Delta breeze. That's why the difference. And again, I know, listen, it's late July. It's summer. We're always kind of hot this time of year, but I know you have another graphic and the title of that one is very dangerous heat. The type of heat that we're seeing for this week just doesn't happen that often, right? Correct. We have definitely been watching the temperatures and, you know, a lot of folks are like, well, it's the end of July. It is hot this time of year, which it is. But this is one of those scenarios, especially the duration of this heat event. The folks in Southern California, I know my brother's down there and he's just like, okay, we're done. You know, they usually only see one or two days. They're going on five or six days. And even up here, we're seeing the heat lingering a little bit longer in this 103 to 108 degree range. And it's one of those things where most other weather phenomena like tornadoes or thunderstorms, you look outside, you see the danger. And with heat, you don't see it. 95 degrees looks exactly like it does 105 from your window. So it's hard for folks to judge the difference. That's why we issue these alerts to let people know this is dangerous heat. And not only is it dangerous for us, I mean, to be outside in the exposure, but really creates issues for the men and women who are fighting the wildfires across California, the worst right now, I think being the Ferguson, kind of give us an update on air conditions, especially in Yosemite. Right. So because of the high pressure that I talked about earlier, it doesn't allow the air to move around and dissipate that smoke. So not only are we seeing the heat, but we're also seeing air quality. And even the firefighters that makes it more extreme for them, because not only is the air quality bad, but the heat on top of that exasperates their need for more frequent breaks. And that means less time on the line. So they need to be out there fighting the fire, but they also have to be safe just due to the extreme heat around the area and then the air quality as well. And Michelle, I know you at the National Weather Service have what's called a heat risk kind of tool online that people can go to. Can you explain that to me and how that could benefit people if they go check it out? So the heat risk is a way for folks to check out how abnormal is this heat. And when we're getting in the oranges, reds, and especially the magenta, that basically is saying, yes, this is hot for this time of year, but these are exceptional temperatures and the duration. So basically the difference between the red and the magenta is the magenta means we're going to see the overnight lows and the daytime highs over a two to three day period without that relief at night. So this is where we're really cautioning everybody the entire population to take precautions, whether that be extra air conditioning, water, brakes, shade, all of the above, and definitely plan accordingly. If you don't have to go outside, don't. Definitely run those errands and whatnot in the early morning or in the late evening when the heat isn't quite as extreme. But the purple, if you're in the red and the purple, we definitely want to advise folks to take heat precautions, hydrate, seek air conditioning. There's a lot of public venues out there. If you don't have it in your home, you can go to the public library. This is a great time to go see a movie. And it's a way for you to get out of the heat and enjoy yourself and be in a nice shady place at the same time and not expose yourself unnecessarily. I know you're always looking ahead at what's coming up. Give us the forecast. Does this heat break at all next week? Are we through it through the weekend? What's it going to look like? So interesting, you should ask that. We are looking at a cool down for the weekend. So instead of 112, we might be in 105. We might be closer to 100. So I don't like to use the word cool down. I'd rather say less hot for the weekend. And then we are looking again at the ridge. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going anywhere. So we are looking for these temperatures, especially in Southern Cal and Arizona, to stick around. And then up here in the north, we're going to definitely be watching the influence of the delta and seeing if we can cool off those nighttime lows at all. Michelle Mead with the National Weather Service. Thank you so much. I know you guys are busy, but thanks for taking this time out and kind of explaining to us and warning us about what we're looking for this week. You're welcome. Everybody stay safe. Thank you, Michelle. Thanks for joining us. Again, I'm Brian May live in the Cal OES newsroom. Thank you for watching.