Last Hurrah for Heat Wave

The heat wave that has created record demand for air-conditioning in San Diego is about to weaken, but not before it delivers one more stifling, humid day.

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“The heat wave is finally breaking,” Wally Cegiel, a forecaster for the National Weather Service, said Tuesday. “Which is good news for everybody except SDG&E.;”

Temperatures should drop 2 to 4 degrees today, then drop 5 to 10 degrees more on Thursday, Cegiel said. The high-pressure system that has pitched a tent over San Diego County is beginning to fold, he said.

Heat and humidity, however, will stick around today. The weather service issued a special advisory warning of the potentially dangerous heat inland.

“Prolonged exposure or physical activity in (today’s) heat and humidity can cause heat cramps . . . heat exhaustion and heat stroke,” the advisory warned.

Many people tried to avoid heat cramps Tuesday by drinking plenty of liquids.

“We’re sold out of Gatorade, all of our juices, and we ran out of Super Big Gulp, Big Gulp and Slurpee cups,” said Russell Scudder, 27, a cashier at a 7-Eleven in North Park.

Meanwhile, a brush fire that burned more than 1,000 acres in eastern San Diego County should be contained today, officials said.

About 60% of the fire that began Monday afternoon in the Barona Ranch Indian Reservation had been contained by a fire break Tuesday evening, said Martie Perkins of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The fire should be contained by 8 a.m. today, Perkins said.

Although the fire had burned 1,035 acres by Tuesday night, Perkins said no buildings or homes had been threatened. The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

More than 750 firefighters and volunteers--including members of the California Conservation Corps, Los Angeles County Fire Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Forest Service--battled the blaze. They fought with 18 fire engines, two bulldozers, four helicopters and three air-tankers.

Although temperatures on the reservation soared over 100 degrees, to firefighters’ relief the wind dropped Tuesday.

But 16 firefighters had minor injuries, including six who suffered heat exhaustion. Animals at the zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park also suffered in the heat.

“The animals by and large sit very still in the shade and watch all the people walk by in the heat,” said Jeff Jouett, a spokesman for the zoo and animal park. “They kind of have caught on.”

Some of the animals that are indigenous to tropical regions need little special attention, Jouett said, and others are given plenty of water to drink and bathe in.

“The elephants have a pool, and the rhinos have a mud bath,” Jouett said.

None of the animals have gotten sick in the heat, officials said.

The muggy weather, a geologist noted, should not remind anyone of “earthquake weather.”

“There’s no such thing as earthquake weather,” said Tom Rockwell, a professor in geology at San Diego State University. “The idea is as absurd as California sliding into the ocean. . . . There is zero correlation between weather and earthquakes.”

The change in temperature on the Earth’s surface affects only the upper 10 to 12 feet of the planet’s crust, he said, and most large earthquakes are generated many miles below the surface.

Above the surface, temperatures and humidity will remain high today, forecaster Cegiel said.

The final day of the heat wave will give San Diego Gas & Electric one last chance to break its recent output record, set on Monday afternoon when the power company supplied 3,335 megawatts--far more than the previous record of 2,600 megawatts--to an electricity thirsty county.

“We didn’t set a record (Tuesday), but it did get up there pretty high. We put out 3,285 megawatts during our afternoon peak,” said Tom Murnane of SDG&E.; One megawatt is enough to serve 1,000 homes.

The beaches should have highs of about 75 degrees, with a water temperature of 73 degrees.

The coastal area, including downtown, will be between 80 and 88 degrees during the day and 66 to 72 at night.

Highs near 100 are again expected inland today. At night, the temperatures will fall to about 65 degrees, Cegiel said.

The mountain temperatures will climb to about 90 degrees during the day and fall to about 64 degrees at night.

Deserts will read about 108 degrees today, Cegiel said. The low will be about 81 degrees.

Temperatures throughout the county will drop between 5 and 10 degrees on Thursday, with a decrease in humidity as well.