A Wednesday afternoon that was expected to feel the identical because the previous 24 hours prolonged its power somewhat further. The National Weather Service said it was the worst day of a temporary heat wave within the Bay Area.
A heat warning already in effect for the East Bay Hills and Interior, the Santa Clara Valley and eastern Santa Clara Hills, the San Benito Mountains and southern Salinas Valley and the Monterey Interior has been expanded to incorporate the Santa Cruz Mountains. The warning will remain in effect through the top of Thursday.
“That's really the only thing that's different from (Tuesday),” said NWS meteorologist Dalton Behringer. “The temperatures and the general conditions at the beach and the warm temperatures overnight are all about the same.”
Beach hazards also remained along the Bay Area and Big Sur coasts, but not along the Santa Cruz coast, and waves between 8 and 15 feet (2.5 to 4.5 meters) were expected.
Behringer said meteorologists are confident the warmth wave peaked on Wednesday. A small ridge of high pressure that has built up right into a small bubble will now begin to depart the world and get replaced by barely lower pressure from the opposite side.
What they didn’t expect was that the thermometer could be so hot on Tuesday: 99 degrees in Concord, 98 degrees at Altamont Pass, 95 degrees in Livermore, 89 degrees in San Jose, 88 degrees in Oakland and 83 degrees in Hayward. All of those values were amongst the very best The 10 hottest places within the region.
As of Thursday afternoon, the temperature in Livermore was 94 degrees and was expected to achieve 100 degrees. In Concord, the temperature was 92 degrees and was also expected to achieve 100 degrees. In San Jose, the temperature was 91 degrees and was expected to achieve 95 degrees.
By Thursday morning, a significant slice of the marine layer may have returned, and by Friday it might be fully present, Behringer said, adding that its reemergence after a two-day absence will proceed as usual.
“If you're near the coast, you're really going to feel it,” he said, adding that Thursday could feel much like Monday, when temperatures rose to 30 to 35 degrees. On Friday, “it's still going to be a few degrees above normal, but significantly cooler than it's been this week. But on the coast, it's going to cool down by at least 10 degrees.”
In Oakland, highs of 27 degrees were expected for Wednesday, but only 20 degrees on Thursday. In San Francisco, meteorologists predicted highs of 25 degrees for Wednesday and 18 degrees for Thursday.
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