Hot August nights and sizzling afternoons are in the forecast

Temps expected to reach 100 degrees; SF should avoid the brunt of the heat

In a summer and year knocked out of kilter, Mother Nature is ushering in something familiar to the Bay Area this week.

Hot August nights — not to mention sizzling afternoons — are back.

“It’s gonna be a pretty hot stretch,” National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass said of the warming trend that kicked off Wednesday and will top out over the weekend, leaving temperatures throughout much of the inland Bay Area in the 100s.

Daytime highs are expected to be 5-15 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service.

The usual cooling off at night won’t occur, either, Gass said, because the high pressure that’s expanding from the southwest desert will keep that breeze away in the inland areas.

“Friday and Saturday will be the hottest days,” Gass said. “It’s going to be the far interior area where it will really be felt. The closer you get to the (San Francisco) Bay, the cooler it will be. It’s still gonna be warm, but areas such as Oakland and Berkeley will be in the 80s probably.”

The weather service on Wednesday issued an excessive heat watch for the Bay Area’s inland areas, as well as for the Central Valley and Monterey Bay regions. But the watch does not extend to the Santa Cruz Mountains or Half Moon Bay, where an offshore wind moving from sea to land is expected to remain.

That flow could keep San Francisco’s temperatures in the 70s, Gass said.

“We’re not gonna rule out the lower 80s,” he said. “That flow will keep the temperatures lower there. Still, even a few delays in the breeze can really warm things up.”

In addition, there is a slight chance of thunderstorms this afternoon into

Friday afternoon, mainly over the area south of the Bay Bridge, according to the weather service.

The heat wave is expected to last at least through Sunday and perhaps even early into next week, Gass said.

The National Weather Service recommends that people limit strenuous outdoor activities during the hottest times of the day and that they drink plenty of water and stay in air-conditioned areas. Children and pets should not be left in cars, and the walking of dogs should be done during the coolest times of the day.

The heat watch is expected to last through 7 p.m. Sunday.