The Bay Area’s heat wave sent temperatures soaring again Wednesday, with several cities across the region coming close to hitting record highs and one setting a new record by mid-afternoon.
Blame the high-pressure system moving over the area for the very hot temperatures, said meteorologist Alexis Clouser of the National Weather Service. An excessive heat warning for interior cities is in effect until Tuesday. A heat advisory was also announced for coastal cities surrounding San Francisco Bay until Tuesday, but the advisory in San Francisco is expected to end Thursday.
Thursday is expected to be a few degrees cooler along the shoreline and in San Jose and San Francisco, but inland residents won’t be getting a cooldown.
San Jose could see a spike to 100, but Behringer said a more likely scenario is temperatures in the upper-90s. Interior East Bay and South County cities are expected to reach highs ranging between 100 to 105. Oakland is forecast to see temperatures in the higher-80s while San Francisco is expected to stay within the lower-80s.
Although several cities throughout the Bay Area came close to their record highs for the day by mid-afternoon, only San Rafael beat the record of 99 degrees set in 2001, hitting a high of 100 Wednesday afternoon, said Dalton Behringer, an NWS meteorologist. In Oakland, temperatures rounded off around 83 degrees. The high in Livermore reached 106 at the airport.
San Jose reached a high of 101, and downtown San Francisco’s temperature peaked around 86 degrees. The lows Wednesday night are expected to dip into the 60s and mid-70s in interior areas.
Antioch’s annual Fourth of July parade has been canceled due to the heat, according to a social media post by city officials.
Clouser advised people without air conditioning to try to stay cool by going to cooling centers. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority said it would be offering free rides on buses and the light rail to designated cooling centers in the county until Sunday, July 7.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District also extended a warning of unhealthy air quality for the Santa Clara Valley and East Bay. The cause is increased ozone, or smog, which can result in respiratory irritation, reduced lung function, asthma aggravation and lung lining inflammation and damage. The air quality may be especially unhealthy for sensitive groups, including children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and lung diseases.
Six new wildfires also sprang up across Northern California and the Central Coast on Tuesday, and continued to burn Wednesday.
The largest fire among them is the Thompson fire, which is threatening 12,000 structures in Butte County. It has burned through more than 3,000 acres near Oroville and was 0% contained as of Wednesday morning.
Cal Fire-Butte County Public Information Officer Rick Carhart told the Chico Enterprise-Record that 28,000 people are under evacuation orders and that initial reports are that four structures have burned. He said more than 1,400 firefighters are working to contain the blaze and that four of them have suffered minor injuries.
The Airline Fire in San Benito County has burned through about 1,150 acres, and it is 55% contained. There was one confirmed injury related to the fire.
As of Wednesday morning, the Moccasin Fire in El Dorado County burned 51 acres and is 25% contained. Cal Fire said that evacuation orders and warnings remain in place as the crews continue fire suppression.
The Toll Fire in Napa County also burned around 41 acres and was 20% contained as of Wednesday morning. According to Cal Fire’s last update, firefighters had stayed on the scene last night “constructing and fortifying control lines and mopping up.”
The Denverton Fire was 0% contained by Wednesday morning, according to Cal Fire. The fire burned through 25 acres in Solano County along Creek Road and Denverton Road.
Lastly, in Shasta County, the Yolla Fire has grown to 19 acres and is 70% contained. The fire is located off of Cottonwood Creek Road.
Pacific Gas & Electric also announced several public safety power shutoffs in Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama and Yolo counties due to high winds and dry conditions. No power shutoffs are expected for the rest of the week.
PG&E also reported power outages in several Bay Area counties Wednesday as the heat caused some transformers to fail.
PG&E recommended pre-cooling homes by lowering their air conditioning to at least 78 degrees; using major appliances, like dishwashers and washing machines, before grid energy needs to be preserved; and closing window covers to keep homes cooler.
