By Thursday evening, there had been no weather-related outages, McCorkle said.

"New temperature data (are) indicating a warm air mass is pushing up temperatures even more than expected," McCorkle said. "Definitely Friday and Monday we are looking to possibly set new records for peak demand."

The highest demand is expected Monday when the hottest temperatures are forecast in the current heat wave over most of the western United States.

Friday demand is forecast about 46,225 megawatts around 4 p.m. PDT, which would break the record of 45,431 set last July 20, the Cal ISO said. Thursday's peak demand was 44,655 megawatts.

Monday's peak is expected to be 46,500 megawatts, also around 4 p.m. PDT.

"We have had some load growth since last summer and this is going to be a strong regional heat wave that is driving demand for electricity," McCorkle said.

There is little chance of major blackouts even as records are expected Friday and Monday, said McCorkle and several utility companies.

Since the 2000-2001 energy crisis in California, increased generation capacity and transmission lines and upgrades to distribution systems across the state have made power delivery more reliable, said Jeff Smith, spokesman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

Although the major change is more infrastructure, the crisis five years ago was also linked to a failed market deregulation law and market manipulation by some traders that triggered power blackouts.

Earlier on Thursday, the Cal ISO called on generating plants contributing to the state's power grid to restrict plant maintenance from noon until 10 p.m. PDT on Thursday.

Californians were asked to cut power use by raising thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit when they are home and to at least 80 F -- or turning air-conditioners off altogether -- when they are away.

Homeowners are being asked to avoid running big appliances during the hottest parts of the day.

Weather forecaster Meteorlogix said that in California the highest temperatures in most major cities will be Monday or on the weekend.

In Fresno, Monday's high will be 110 F, 14 F higher than normal. Tuesday's high will be 105 F and Wednesday's, 103 F.

Los Angeles will be 4 degrees F above normal with a high of 78 F on Friday and it will remain in the uppers 70s to low 80s through next Wednesday. In the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles, highs will be over 100 F through early next week.

Sacramento will have highs 5 F more than normal on Friday and 12 F higher than the normal on Monday, when it will have a high of 103 F. Tuesday's high will be 100 F and Wednesday's 97 F.

Those forecasted temperatures from Meteorlogix were issued early Thursday before weather experts said the coming warm air mass Friday through Monday will be even hotter than first predicted.

Some 42,000 fishing boats were also directed back to harbor, it said, while Xinhua news agency reported that 70,000 were evacuated from dangerous areas of neighboring Zhejiang province.

The storm was heading northwest at around 15-20 kilometers (10-13 miles) per hour and packing winds of up to 108 kilometers per hour near its center, the report said.

Fujian's education bureau ordered schools to suspend classes and cancel outdoor activities. All parks have also been closed.

Passenger liners in the province had suspended services, and flights to Hong Kong and elsewhere have been cancelled while those to Beijing have been delayed, state television said.

Meanwhile, workers were checking reservoirs in preparation for flooding as the storm was expected to bring up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain from Thursday night, Xinhua said.

Nearby provinces were also bracing for the storm.

In Zhejiang, in addition to evacuating 70,000 residents, officials called 180,000 boats and ships back to shore as of Friday morning, Xinhua said.

The storm brought strong winds to Zhejiang measuring 10-12 degrees on the Beaufort Scale on the sea and 8-10 degrees on land, said Xinhua.

Torrential rains have hit Zhejiang since Thursday noon.

Bilis lashed the northern Philippines Thursday. The 14 victims were killed by falling trees, flashfloods, and landslides, officials said.

The storm also hit Taiwan without causing any casualties.

Six members of a gypsy family including two children were killed as they slept Thursday night when the sodden wall of a neighbouring house collapsed on them, police and newspapers said.

Three people were electrocuted in the eastern city of Lahore by poorly maintained powerlines, officials said.

Another six people died in house collapses in Punjab, while further casualties were reported from the province's rural areas, they said.

"A total of 25 people have died over the past two days," health ministry official Amir Arsalan said.

About 170 millimeters (6.9 inches) of rain had fallen on Islamabad since Wednesday, meteorological officials said.

The monsoon rains follow a scorching heat wave when temperatures neared 50 degrees celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in some areas, claiming dozens of lives.