You thought Labor Day meant summer was over, didn’t you?

While still technically summer for another two and half weeks, September usually means cooler temperatures as autumn prepares to take over in the Central Valley.

But a spate of triple-digit days is set to arrive today in what is likely to be the last heat wave of 2024.

“We’re seeing things warming pretty rapidly, pushing triple digits at least through Friday,” said Nathan Rick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “There’s high pressure aloft, which is cutting off any sort of air flow that keeps things cooler. It’s going to be pretty stagnant for the next few days. There’s not going to be much of a Delta breeze influence."

According to WeatherChannel.com, a high of 105 degrees is forecast for today, with a high of 106 expected Thursday. The mercury will top out at 105 on Friday, then easing to 100 degrees on Saturday, with temps reaching highs in the upper 90s on Sunday and Monday.

“Friday afternoon we’re expecting another system to move in that could bring thunderstorms in the Sierra and cause that heat to move eastward,” said Rick. “It’s a little tough to tell, but things should be closer to normal for this time of year beginning next week.”

With the Turlock Irrigation District water year coming to an end in just a few weeks, the Tuolumne River Watershed has received 33.15 inches of precipitation, which is just above 92 percent of average (35.84 inches). 

There has been 1.68 million acre-feet of accumulated runoff to date.

“At this time of the year, we don’t expect much more runoff to come down,” said Brandon McMillan, a TID communications specialist. “The 2023-2024 water hear, which ends on Sept. 30, is expected to close around 88 percent of average.”

Don Pedro Reservoir is currently at an elevation of 795.3 feet with, 1.61 million acre-feet of storage, according to TID.

Already, the Turlock and Pitman high school freshman football teams have altered their schedules to account for the heat.

The Pride, slated to play at Joe Debely Stadium at 7 p.m. following the Turlock freshman game, will move across town to play on their own field, opening up the 7 p.m. slot for the Bulldogs at Turlock High.

“It’s supposed to be 104 degrees,” said THS athletic director Mike Brown. “We can’t play at 4 with those temperatures.”

The city of Turlock will open its cooling centers in anticipation of the hot temperatures. Cooling centers will be located at the Roger K. Fall Transit Center, 1418 N. Golden State Blvd. (Monday-Friday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and at the Turlock Public Library, 550 N. Minaret Ave. (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Turlock city bus fares for passengers traveling to a cooling center will be waived upon request.