Summer is off to a sizzling start in Sacramento. Just how hot has 2021 been?

Jul. 8—As Sacramento braces for another brutal heat wave this weekend, just how hot has California’s capital city been this summer?

The short answer: Pretty darn hot.

Since June 1, the start of what forecasters refer to as meteorological summer, max temperature readings at Sacramento Executive Airport have been hotter than normal 18 times, cooler than normal 14 times and right at average five times so far in 2021.

The hot days have outweighed the cold ones. Already, seven times in a little more than five weeks, the high temperature at Sacramento Executive has exceeded the historic average by 10 degrees or more, including five consecutive times from June 16 to June 20, National Weather Service records show.

Record-shattering heat of 107 degrees June 17 and 109 degrees June 18 blasted past normal by 19 degrees and 20 degrees, respectively. Downtown sizzled, too, reaching 110 each day.

“Generally for downtown Sacramento, we only hit 110 degrees four out of 10 years or so,” NWS meteorologist Scott Rowe said. “And we’ve already had two days (this year), and we have a forecast 110 on Saturday. We’re already above quota.”

Sacramento’s 18 above-normal days were, on average, 8 degrees hotter than normal for this time of year, when highs normally range from 84 to 92, while the 14 below-normal days averaged 5 degrees cooler than normal.

In the aggregate, daily highs have averaged 2 degrees hotter than normal since June 1. If highs meet forecast expectations during this weekend’s heatwave, that will increase to 3 degrees above normal by Monday.

Sacramento Executive Airport hit triple digits three times in June, and it reached 95 or hotter nine times in those 30 days.

The heat didn’t wait for the calendar to hit June. May 31 hit a record-breaking 105 degrees, an astounding 21 degrees hotter than normal in Sacramento.

Meteorological summer started warm, with June 1 through June 5 all ranging from 90 to 95 degrees compared to an all-time average of 85 degrees in early June. A brief cool streak followed: June 8 through June 10 only warmed to the mid-70s, against historic averages of 86 and 87 degrees.

The last few days of June and the first week of July have stuck to the seasonal script. Daily highs matched the all-time average five times between June 27 and this Wednesday, not diverging more than 4 degrees in either direction during that stretch.

The impending extreme heat wave will put an end to that streak of normalcy. Forecasters warn that Sacramento will likely soar to 110 on Saturday, 18 degrees hotter than usual for the date.

Rowe noted that NWS Sacramento has already issued four excessive heat warnings this year.

“And it’s only a few days after the Fourth of July,” Rowe said.