The Central Valley braces for extreme heat

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Across the Globe and Country temperatures have been breaking records in recent weeks, the San Joaquin Valley has managed to escape extreme heat but that won't be the case for long.

Extreme heat is set to blast the Central Valley with temperatures approaching 110 degrees or above in just a matter of days.

It will be just the second heatwave this summer after many days in the 90s so far this month - and an unseasonably cool June with temperatures often topping out in the 80s.

"Very unusual, usually by June we've seen temperatures hit 100 degrees across the Valley several times and we actually avoided that," said Andy Bollenbacher, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

An excessive heat warning will go into effect Saturday morning with a 40% chance of at least 110 degrees for most locations.

Another concern is overnight temperatures, which play an important role in keeping the body cool.

"We're going to be looking at overnight lows in quite a few areas across the valley and foothills well above 70 degrees so if you don't have access to good air conditioning and it's getting quite hot in your house or living quarters, that actually really increases the heat risk," explained Bollenbacher.

Across the country and world, we've seen scorching temperatures in recent weeks, with the planet reaching its hottest average day on record this past Wednesday. Experts are expecting an El Nino season in the coming months.

"The El Nino is likely, however, what's not certain is what that does for the rain across the area because that is the elephant in the room we all want to address right? Are we going to see another big wet season? To be honest, it is not that clear," said Bollenbacher.

Beyond the rain, triple digits stretching into the fall season is a possibility.

"We could be looking at the potential for a couple of days to at least hit 100 degrees in October, it's not unheard of in the San Joaquin Valley, it's well above average but not impossible," added Bollenbacher.

According to the CDC, heat is the number one weather-related killer in the world.

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