Important Takeaways:

• California is hit by ‘dangerously high temperatures’ of up to 117F as 13,000 are evacuated from fierce wildfires and 90million are under heat alert across country
• California is sweltering under ‘dangerously high temperatures’, with the mercury set to rise to 117F and thousands of people evacuated as raging wildfires grip the state.
• The severe heat is only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States, with nearly 90 million people placed under heat alerts across the country.
• The torrid conditions have been caused by a ridge of high pressure just off the West Coast and a separate ridge that spawned heat warnings and advisories from Kansas and Missouri to the Gulf Coast states, according to the National Weather Service.
• California’s capital, Sacramento, is under an excessive heat warning expected to last until Sunday night, with temperatures forecasted to reach between 105 degrees and 115 degrees (40.5 and 46.1 Celsius). Meanwhile, Palm Springs is set to see 117F.
• The heatwave has created perfect conditions for wildfires, with red flag fire warnings issued across the state, with pictures showing the blazes tearing through forests and homes leaving a trail of destruction.
• About 70 miles (113km) north of Sacramento, crews have been working in scorching conditions to battling a wildfire in Butte County that forced the evacuation of about 13,000 people in and around Oroville.
• The blaze, dubbed the Thompson Fire, broke out before noon yesterday and sent up a huge plume of smoke as it swiftly grew to more than 3 square miles (7.7 square kilometers) by evening, with zero containment.
• Firefighters lined roads, trying to keep the flames from reaching homes as helicopters dropped water on the fast-moving blaze.
• California has had a spate of spring and early summer wildfires feeding on abundant grasses spawned by back-to-back wet winters. The largest current blaze, dubbed the Basin Fire, was 17% contained after charring more than 21 square miles (54 square kilometers) of the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno County since it was sparked June 26.

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