Local: Another day of sweltering heat in the Bay Area
Highest temp in San Jose, set in 1950, broken, but cooling’s on the way
The heat wave that toppled temperature records this week persisted as promised Thursday, sending Bay Area residents indoors and out of the August sun as the mercury shot up into the 90s and 100s in the inland valleys.
San Jose scorched a record for Aug. 15 that had stood for almost 70 years, National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mehele said. The temperature at Mineta San Jose International Airport hit 99 degrees, topping the 96-degree Aug. 15 record in 1950, he said.
Records were tied or set elsewhere, according to the weather service. The mercury shot to 103
degrees in Santa Rosa, toppling the previous record of 100 set in 1950. Redwood City saw a high of 100 degrees, just 1 degree warmer than the old mark set in 1983. And Oakland International Airport tied its previous record of 94 degrees set in 1950.
The hottest spots in the Bay Area, however, were in Morgan Hill and Livermore, where the mercury reached a blistering 106 degrees.
“Simply put, the forecast hot temperatures did arrive today,” Mehle said. “We are seeing temperatures in the widespread 90s to low 100s across interior parts of the Bay Area. We’re definitely pushing record territory.”
But cool — if fleeting — relief is on the way. Weekend temperatures are expected to fall about 10 degrees throughout the region.
“We are expecting increased onshore flow,” Mehle said, “and that will kick off a cooling trend.”
That would be welcome news to Al Cisneros of Concord, who hit the tennis courts at 8:30 a.m. Thursday to avoid the heat.
“We decided to play one extra set, and I’m not sure that was the right decision,” said Cisneros, holding three empty Gatorade bottles, an empty water bottle and a banana peel, as he exited the court. “It’s borderline heat exhaustion. This is what it took to get through it.”
A National Weather Service heat advisory remained in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday, a day after high temperatures set 11 temperature records in the Bay Area.
“These are all temperatures that people are not used to around here,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Drew Peterson said.
Children and pets should not be left in hot cars, and those who are sensitive to the heat should seek out air-conditioned places, such as public cooling centers around the region.
“It’s unusually warm for the area, so people should take the traditional precautions of drinking additional fluids and limiting outdoor exposure to the sun, especially in the middle of the day,” Peterson said.
A sales associate at the Blossom Hill ACE Hardware in San Jose said fans were flying off the shelves with the temperature spike, even though sales normally taper off during this time of year.
At the Seven Trees Community Center in San Jose, one of the city’s designated cooling centers, staff members were setting out cups and a cooler full of ice water Thursday for people coming in to chill out.
B. J. and Cliff Rounds live in a trailer home near the community center, and on days like today, it’s “boiling” inside, B. J. Rounds said.
The couple came to the center two days in a row seeking respite from the heat.
“In here, it’s nice and cool and comfortable,” B. J. Rounds said.
Thursday marked the third straight day for a Spare the Air alert as the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said air quality will reach unhealthful levels today from ozone, or smog, because of light winds combined with hot temperatures and exhaust from motor vehicles.
It was the 10th such alert of 2019. The ozone air pollution is particularly harmful for young children, seniors and those with respiratory and heart conditions, according to the district, which extended the Spare the Air alert into Friday.
Meteorologist Mehle said cooler temperatures should start arriving today as the hot desert air mass over the Southwest that was scorching Phoenix and Las Vegas weakens.
“We had a rather warm air mass over the region that’s going to be cooling off dramatically,” Mehle said. “The fog will be returning, the high pressure weakening. We should see widespread cooling.
“We’re looking at a 10-degree drop across the region.”
Don’t get to used to it, though. Mehle said higher temperatures are in the forecast for next week.