Was this heat wave extraordinary? Climate expert thinks it's a new normal

SAN FRANCISCO -- Whether by finding a beach, a bridge or a body of water, most people have gone on a mission to beat the heat at some point over the past two weeks as California endured an early heat wave.

"I think it's probably the hottest summer I've ever had in Concord. It usually doesn't get this hot until August," one woman said.

A reprieve is on the horizon, says California state climatologist Michael Anderson.

"We have some new all-time highs for some places down in Southern California. Palm Springs got up to 124," he said. "Forecasts do look like we're going to settle back more towards climatological average temperatures here, particularly in the Central Valley, once we get into the new week."

If you feel like this heat wave came earlier than usual and it was hotter than a typical summer heat wave in the Bay Area, you're not wrong.

"We're going to see longer heat waves and we'll see them a little bit out of the timing that we're used to and they'll be more intense," said Eugene Cordero, a professor at the San Jose State University Department of Meteorology and Climate Science. "That's what the climate models are showing and have predicted and that's what we are witnessing today."

In fact, he says heat waves like this one are far more likely to occur now than they were in the 1960s or 1970s.

"This heat wave that we just had was five times as likely to happen in today's climate because of extra greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," he said. "We need to think about vulnerable populations. We need to think about the risk of fire. I also think we need to double down on doing something about climate change and not just be resigned to, 'OK, this is our new normal' – which it is – but do we want to take more significant actions to reduce carbon emissions?"

One aspect of this heat wave that was quite noticeable in many communities across the Bay Area: it didn't cool off much at night.

"When we get elevated overnight low temperatures, you're starting from a higher base for that daytime heating to kick in so you can get up into the more extreme temperatures," Anderson said.

Anderson and Cordero say that while we're on the tail end of this heat wave there's a lot of summer left for more.

"It's quite possible we will have more events this summer like this one," Anderson said.