Sizzling summer

Incline Village set the record high for July 5, reaching a blistering 104 degrees Thursday and prompting Tahoe residents to head for the beaches.

It is only one degree shy of the hottest temperature ever recorded in Incline Village - 105 degrees on July 10, 2002, according to AccuWeather.com.

The heat continued on Friday with Incline marking 96 degrees before temperatures were expected to cool some for the weekend and next week.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Brian O'Hara said temperatures should cool down slightly over the next few days while a high pressure system over Western Nevada weakens. By the weekend, temperatures should dip into the high 80s.

"The high pressure is kind of weakening, but temperatures will still be above average through the next week," he said.

Records were broken throughout the region last week. For example, Minden set a new record Wednesday at 107 degrees. And Truckee, known as one of the coldest places in the nation, went above the century mark, which has only happened once before in 2002. Truckee's high temperature on Friday was 104 degrees.

"We have been above normal for a long time," said Gina Beninato, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno. "We're extremely hot for this time of year."

The heat wave is exceptional, given that the average temperatures for Truckee and Tahoe in this part of July range in the low 80s, Beninato said.

During the heat wave, the weather service recommends drinking plenty of water, wearing loose light-colored clothing and staying out of direct sunshine.

"It's not too good for people with respiratory problems or the very old or very young," O'Hara said. "They are still going to have to take shelter and use air conditioning if possible. It's going to be kind of difficult for people over the next week or so."

The heat has upped the fire danger to extreme.

Steve Simons, a captain with the North Tahoe Fire Protection District, said firefighters are concerned about the possibility of lightning, and will communicate with the various fire lookouts on peaks around Tahoe to get an early jump on any potential lightning fires.

"There's a lot of heightened awareness," Simons said.