ABC News
ABC NewsBY: REED MCDONOUGH, ABC NEWS
(NEW YORK) — Wildfires in the West continue to rage as the region sees more record high temperatures.
The extreme weather has proved to be particularly a problem in California. As the state battled both extreme heat and wildfires, Pacific Gas and Electric Company initiated rotating outages Friday night at the request of California’s grid operator.
The outages, which impacted 220,000 customers, are now over, the company said.
The Lake Fire, north of Los Angeles, is currently burning 17,482 acres and is only 12% contained.
Mandatory evacuations remain in place due to the Lake Fire for Lake Hughes and additional evacuations were ordered Friday for Antelope Valley. The number of residents impacted is still be determined, according to Cal Fire. Many structures are endangered, officials said.
Nearby, the Ranch Fire in Azusa, California, is currently 2500 acres and only 3% contained. Evacuations for the Mountain Cove community have been lifted.
Not helping firefighters battle the blazes is the excessive heat throughout the West.
There are several fire weather alerts in place Saturday morning from northern California to Washington state.
Low relative humidity, coupled with breezy conditions and afternoon heat have prompted the need for a red flag watch and a red flag warning further north in western Oregon and western Washington state on Saturday.
Heat alerts are in place Saturday morning from Louisiana to Washington state as a heatwave builds across the western U.S.
Saturday afternoon high temperatures are expected to break into the triple digits in several parts of the U.S., including central Texas, and further west in Arizona and California.
The heat across the West is likely to remain well into this coming week
This California heatwave is likely to rival that of the deadly July 2006 heatwave in California.
Meanwhile, a warm front is expected to slowly lift over the Mid-Atlantic states Saturday bringing a threat for heavy rainfall through the weekend.
A flash flood watch is in effect Saturday morning for five states, including Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.
Showers and thunderstorms are expected to move slowly through the area, with rainfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour.
Some areas here could see up to 4 inches of rain by Sunday night.
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