Heat wave’s intensity to reach triple digits
Temperatures began ramping up Tuesday and will climb even higher Wednesday, with a return of last week’s triple digits on the agenda for parts of the Bay Area, officials said.
“In the interior locations you could call it a heat wave,” said Scott Rowe, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
A heat advisory will be in effect for interior parts of the north, east and south bay, where temperatures were expected to hit the high 90s on Tuesday and low 100s on Wednesday. The advisory Wednesday will last from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On Wednesday afternoon in Santa Clara County, five cooling centers will be open in the Mayfair, Camden, Seven Trees,
Roosevelt and Cypress community centers of San Jose, and three cooling centers will be open in the libraries of Saratoga, Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Visitors must wear masks, observe social distancing and be free of COVID19 symptoms.
In Contra Costa County, the county employment offices in Antioch, Pleasant Hill, Hercules and Richmond will be open as cooling centers but offering fewer services for visitors than community centers.
County spokeswoman Tish Gallegos said cold water and cold air would be about all that is offered.
The usual hotweather admonitions — drink water, stay indoors, check up on family and friends, seek out air conditioners — will be in force. The heat advisory joins shelterinplace orders due to the coronavirus outbreak and curfews that have been mandated in some areas amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
“What’s happened is that a highpressure ridge is building from the desert southwest and nudging toward California,” Rowe said.
In the East Bay, all that nudging could nudge the thermometer on Wednesday to 101 in Livermore and Concord. In Sacramento, Rowe said, it could hit 104. The official forecast called the heat wave a “robust warming and drying trend, with interior locations warming to well above seasonal averages.”
San Francisco and coastal areas should remain considerably cooler, with highs in the 70s.
Afternoon coastal winds should cool things further.
Dry sunny weather will continue through the weekend and into next week, forecasters said.