Bay Area’s summery heat melts records
Still more balmy days in forecast — dry spell expected to continue
The weekend brought the kind of California warmth and sunshine that makes the rest of the country jealous.
As temperatures plummeted elsewhere, Bay Area residents pulled out their cutoff shorts and tank tops. Runners sprinted through Golden Gate Park, and young people lounged in the grass drinking beer. For February, the temperatures were unheard of.
They broke records for both Saturday and Sunday, forecasters said. Ironically, Monday is the 42nd anniversary of the last time there was sea level snow in the Bay Area. But this past week — and the coming week — could hardly be more different from that, forecasters wryly noted.
“It’s probably going to be pretty similar. It may cool off a few degrees tomorrow, but it’ll be similar,” said Anna Schneider, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.
On Sunday, San Francisco heated up to 74 degrees, breaking its record of 73 for the date. It was 74 degrees Saturday, too, breaking its record of 71. The average temperature for this time of year in downtown San Francisco is 59 degrees. San Francisco International Airport hit 75 degrees and beat its record of 71 in 2009 Sunday. On Saturday, it was 76 degrees, up from 70 in 1984.
Records were also broken in Santa Rosa, with temperatures reaching 76 degrees on Saturday and 77 degrees on Sunday. Oakland International Airport crushed its record of 70 degrees Saturday, hitting 76 degrees in the afternoon. On Sunday, it hit 70 degrees, up from 69
degrees in 1980.
San Jose International Airport reached 78 degrees Saturday, surpassing a previous record of 74 in 2009. On Sunday, it hit 76 degrees, tying with the same temperature in 1963.
Temperatures will mostly hover in the upper 60s to low 70s for most of the Bay Area throughout the week, with lower temperatures set to arrive next weekend, Schneider said. No rain is in sight for the foreseeable future.
“As far out as we can see, it looks dry,” Schneider said. “Pretty much dry weather for the rest of the week.”
Some forecast models show little to no rain through Feb. 20, according to the National Weather Service. Rainfall averages remain below normal for the region, Schneider said.
“We are usually a little wetter in February,” Schneider added.
For the water year, the entire region is 50 to 70 percent below normal, she said.
San Francisco normally receives up to 13 inches of rain from October to February, but the city has received only about 8 inches of rainfall so far.
The normal amount of rainfall for Oakland is about 11½ inches by now, but only about 8 inches has fallen there.
The normal precipitation at this point for San Jose is 8½ inches, but so far the city has recorded just a little under 5 inches.
Santa Rosa, which normally would have 21 inches of rain by now, has received only 13 inches.
Much of the dryness is attributed to a ridge — an elongated area of high atmospheric pressure — that was in place above of the region for the month of December and appears to be setting up to stay for February, Schneider said.
“Around areas of high pressure, you get compression of air underneath it, and that tends to prevent any kind of precipitation,” Schneider said. “So you’re usually going to get not as many clouds and kind of have a little bit warmer weather.” Lizzie Johnson and Sarah Ravani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: ljohnson@ sfchronicle.com, sravani@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @lizziejohnsonnn, @SarRavani