A heat dome stretches across southern California and the southwest this week, while cooler temps loom just offshore.
Sacramento Bee
Summer is still in full swing across California this week as temperatures are set to climb further above average and heat advisories take effect.
High temps will hold in the 90s for most of the Sacramento Valley this week. Breezy onshore winds will keep the Delta breeze healthy for Sacramento, Modesto and the Delta region with plenty of sunshine to go around.
Sacramento will top out in the low 90s Monday before that Delta breeze arrives. The heat peaks Wednesday or the Sacramento Valley, when highs will reach into the mid- to upper 90s. Thanks to that strong Delta breeze, overnight low temperatures will again dip into the 50s and low 60s.
Sacramento Bee 
Sacramento Bee
Similar to last week, the presence of lower pressure through the upper atmosphere will keep a steady stream wispy cirrus clouds flowing across Central California all week out of the southwest. These clouds higher in the sky won’t do much to cool down temps or even make for cloudy days — expect every day to still feel sunny — but it will add some extra color to these late August skies. Sunsets and sunrises should be particularly wonderful.
Forecast cloud cover Tuesday. Wispy clouds stretch over Central California. Sacramento Bee
Further south, the San Joaquin Valley will be much hotter as a heat dome sits over Southern California and Arizona. High temps for Fresno and south through Bakersfield will soar into the triple digits through Thursday. A heat advisory is in effect through Wednesday for Fresno and the southern San Joaquin Valley.
The heat dome will be even more powerful further south, where a suite of heat advisories and extreme heat warnings are in place this week throughout Southern California. For Los Angeles, high temps well into the 90s are a break from normal and will make for some of the hottest days this year.
Heat advisories have been issued for Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern counties through Wednesday ahead of high temps above 100 degrees. Sacramento Bee Cooler skies arrive this weekend for NorCal
Temperatures will cool off for the entirety of California this weekend, when lower pressure through the upper atmosphere — or a trough — pushes across the Pacific northwest and northern California with greater cloud cover, gustier winds and even some potential rain showers.
By the weekend, lower pressure across the Pacific northwest will bring cooler temps, cloudier skies, and stronger winds across northern California. Sacramento Bee
High temps are expected to fall into the 80s for most of the Sacramento Valley. Meanwhile, highs in the 90s for the San Joaquin Valley are a welcome change of pace from many days of consecutive triple-digit heat.
Hawk Fire continues to grow near Reno
As of early Monday, the Hawk fire has burned 15,051 acres in the Peavine Peak country immediately northwest of Reno. At zero containment and growing, mandatory evacuation orders include neighborhoods of northwest Reno.
The Hawk Fire burns northwest of Reno as evacuation orders stretch into nearby neighborhoods. Sacramento Bee
The weather will offer little help before it offers a lot. Through midweek, the fire could burn under the same heat dome baking Southern California while conditions remain quite dry. Fortunes could change this weekend as temps cool considerably and thicker clouds arrive, but gustier winds could continue to pose a challenge for firefighters.
The Sacramento Bee
Sean Macaday covers the weather for McClatchy Media in California. Originally from Chicago, Sean worked 6 years covering the weather on local television in Minnesota. He holds a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and marine science from the University of Miami.