A key part of a normal morning in the Bay Area was missing Tuesday, and that signaled as much as anything that a heat wave expected to kick off the summer weather pattern was unfolding as expected.
“We don’t have a marine layer,” said Nicole Sarment, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We are aware of this everywhere.”
So the natural cooling mechanism for the region will be lacking as temperatures rise from the low and mid 90s starting Tuesday until reaching the 90s and perhaps 100 in some areas Wednesday and Thursday.
A system in the eastern Pacific Ocean created a thick ridge of high pressure that Sarment said continues to build and is responsible for the heat.
Temperatures are expected to reach the mid 90s Tuesday in most areas of the East Bay. Concord is expected to reach 97 degrees and Walnut Creek 96. Livermore is expected to reach 95 degrees, first in Alameda County, while San Jose is expected to reach 93 degrees.
“These temperatures are all expected to rise 3 to 5 degrees from Wednesday to Thursday,” Sarment said, adding that by Wednesday, Concord could reach 99 degrees, Livermore at 97 and San Jose at 96.
A heat advisory issued by the weather service expanded Monday evening to include the southern Salinas Valley Wednesday through Thursday. A heat advisory for the East Bay’s inland hills and valleys, as well as the Sonoma Coast Range and the North Bay area and inland hills, was in effect Tuesday.
Those who go to the beach will also experience dangerous beach conditions Wednesday and Thursday, the weather service said. Waves breaking at 15-20 feet are expected along the Bay Area coast and Big Sur shoreline. The beach hazard warning does not include the Santa Cruz coastline.
A “little relief” is expected Friday when the effect of two more distant low pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean begins to be felt, Sarment said.
“This will prevent high pressures from dominating,” she said. “It will reduce the heat.”
Still, temperatures are expected to reach at least the 80s, and possibly the 80s in some areas on Friday. Then, early next week, they could start to climb back into the 90s, according to the weather service.
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