Today is the real scorcher of them all for California!

 I woke up at 6 am and it was already 69 degrees here on the coast of northern California. Most people without air conditioners inland are already in trouble because it is not cooling down even overnight. Even here on the coast it is now 74 degrees even at 9 am when normal would be somewhere in the 50s or low 60s this time of year and lower if it was overcast which it is not presently. We do not have air conditioning here but we do in our other house in Santa Barbara but we are not there now. I opened all the windows I could to cool the house down before I shut it all up soon to keep it cool inside for the hottest part of the day since we don't have air conditioning here on the. coast. I would say 90% of the people where I live do NOT have air conditioning but likely will wish they did by the end of today. We expect it to get 88 degrees even here on the coast and 113 degrees in places like Gilroy and others. We'll see what actually happens.

Santa Nella where 33 and Interstate 5 connect will be 112 degrees today and everywhere from Redding to Bakersfield likely will be above 110 degrees in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys in the center of the state.

NOTE:

One trick if you don't have an air conditioner to hold the cold air of the night all day in your homes. I used cork board stick pins to put blankets over windows facing the morning sun that don't have shades or curtains like those from the foyer to the large deck in our back yard. This way it prevents solar heating through the windows. So, if I shut all windows to keep in the cooler night air it often is okay until 5 to 7 pm at night when I can begin to open up windows once again to cool during the cooler night air.

Also, any lights you have on also heat up your house during the day so turn off all unnecessary lights and don't cook unless you are microwaving to keep temperatures low in your home all day.

2nd note: The reason people do not have air conditioners here (about 90% don't) is because most of the year you never need it. But, you need a heater even in June, July and August often because of overcast weather that we call the June Glooms here near San Francisco or as Mark Twain once said: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francsico!"

But, global warming is changing all that. I bet many people will get air conditioner now even if they are just portable ones that they store in the closet most of the year like the ones I bought for all my children when they lived in Portland about 5 years ago. The ones with wheels on them allow you to roll them wherever you want to use them which I find a nice feature.