Triple-digit heat expected in East, North Bay Friday
An excessive-heat watch will be in effect from Friday morning through the evening.
The Bay Area will heat up Friday, reaching triple digits in some parts of the East and North Bay and prompting the National Weather Service to issue an excessive-heat watch.
The cause is a “high pressure system sitting over our area,” weather service meteorologist Sarah McCorkle said Tuesday. The highest temperatures will come Friday, which is the “biggest day of concern,” she said.
The weather service forecast for Friday has Calistoga, Fairfield and Concord reaching 100 degrees. Napa and Santa Rosa are expected to top out just shy of 100, along with Gilroy in the South Bay, but McCorkle said some of those locations could also edge into the triple digits.
The weather service announced that an excessive-heat watch will be in effect from Friday morning through Friday evening for interior portions of the North, East and South Bay as well as the Santa Cruz Mountains and interior coast.
The watch indicates that extreme heat will significantly raise the potential for heat-related illness, especially those working outside or engaging in outdoor activities. The weather service said it was issuing the advisory Tuesday to give heat-sensitive people time to plan accordingly.
Temperatures usually max out toward the late afternoon and early evening, when the ground has had time to heat up, McCorkle said.
“If you’re planning to do outdoor activities, do it in the morning,” she said.
She also advised people to stay hydrated and check on more vulnerable populations including the elderly, children and pets. The weather service recommended being prepared to stay out of the sun and be in an air-conditioned space.
Officials also reminded residents that young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances, as temperatures inside cars can turn lethal in minutes.
While highs in the 90s to low 100s are warmer than average for this time of year, McCorkle said “events like this are not abnormal.” That description would be reserved for a heat event lasting multiple days, or temperatures pushing into 105 territory.
The warm-up is expected to commence late Thursday afternoon, with highs in the mid-90s expected in many Wine Country cities and in the low 90s farther in the East Bay.
After Friday’s scorcher, temperatures should cool somewhat on Saturday, with highs in the low 90s in the North Bay, and the East Bay seeing high 80s.
“The high pressure starts to break down starting into the weekend,” McCorkle said. “We’ll start to see temperatures drop off. Luckily it’s a short-lived heat event.”
Temperatures should drop even further by Sunday, “back to the seasonal high 70s and low 80s” in many parts of the Bay Area, she said.