Hot weather to stay on for another day
High temperatures and smoky skies besiege residents
The “perfect mix” of wind and smoke that turned Bay Area skies into a smoky campfire began to subside ever so slightly Sunday, but officials and forecasters still urged people to stay indoors.
Considering the heat, it wouldn’t be the worst idea, even with the bluest of skies.
Temperatures again scorched the Bay Area, with thermometers racing toward the upper 90s in most places and the hardto-bear 100s in others. On Saturday, several high-temperature records fell, and meteorologist Charles Bell, of the National Weather Service, said marks likely would fall Sunday, too.
“It’s going to be blazing,” he said.
Just as concerning, he said, is that the air also will be hard to breathe again. Smoke from a large wildfire in Lake County cast an umbrella of dark haze over the Bay Area on Saturday and dropped a heavy smell of smoke. The thick, highpressure system causing the heat to soar also factored into keeping the haze from having a place to go. But the wind that was bringing smoke with it dissipated somewhat overnight, Bell said, causing the flow of smoke to slow down.
“We had some places reporting only a quarter-mile visibility (Saturday) because of the dense smoke,” Bell said. “It’s nothing like that today.”
Still, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District extended its Spare the Air alert through Monday, and air in the Santa Clara Valley was rated as unhealthy for anyone with respiratory disease. Children and adults with asthma were urged to reduce their activity.
The thermometers also suggested it would remain more prudent to be indoors than out. Bell forecast temperatures that might reach as high as 110 degrees in Gilroy, hover between 103 and 107 in Livermore, Antioch, Concord and Pittsburg, and hang steady between 95 and 100 in almost every other area of Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
About the only relief to be found came in San Francisco, which was expected to hover between 75 near the water and 85 downtown. On Saturday, San Francisco Airport recorded a record-breaking high of 92, eclipsing the previous mark of 90 set in 1950. Records also were set in downtown Oakland (93), Mountain View (95), Santa Cruz (101), Monterey (90) and Salinas (91). Bell said the temperatures weren’t influenced by the smoke or the smoke by the temperatures but added that the two were not completely independent of each other.
The smoke will continue to dissipate slowly through the early week, Bell said, and temperatures will fall an average of 5 degrees in the East Bay and 10-15 degrees along the coast on Monday. By Tuesday, the air is expected to be considerably better, and temperatures will be “far more tolerable” by Wednesday, Bell said.
“Stay cool,” he said. “Stay indoors. Stay hydrated.”