"The main story will be heat" for Wednesday and Thursday throughout the Bay Area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Bingaman.
Off the heels of an intense winter storm season, the Bay Area’s rapidly-warming spring may offer a peek at summer weather beginning Wednesday, as inland temperatures could reach the 90s in parts of the region.
National Weather Service forecasts showed warm temperatures on Tuesday before the ramp-up toward the 90s Wednesday. On a day which was expected to see relatively low winds, Tuesday’s forecast highs included 81 degrees in San Jose, 67 in downtown San Francisco, 72 in Oakland and 82 in Walnut Creek.
“The main story will be heat (for the rest of the week),” said NWS meteorologist Brooke Bingaman. “Warm and dry weather for the rest of this week, into the weekend.”
Living in the 80s & 90s…no, we don't mean leg warmers & grunge rock. Those are the high temperatures forecast for inland areas on Wed & Thu. If you're sensitive to heat, plan ahead to stay cool! #cawx pic.twitter.com/qkGwK2dret
— NWS Bay Area
(@NWSBayArea) April 24, 2023
The summer-like temperatures are expected to arrive Wednesday and stay for a few days before returning to the 70s early next week. Highs across the region Wednesday include 87 for San Jose and Walnut Creek, 73 in San Francisco, 80 in Oakland and 74 in Santa Cruz.
On Thursday, temperatures may rise by a few more degrees in most cities, with San Jose and some East Bay and Contra Costa County cities like Livermore and Concord threatening to reach 90.
“Several of the interior inland areas will be reaching 10 to 20 degrees above normal (for this time of year),” Bingaman said.
While the temperatures may exceed historic averages, there’s nothing new about spring temperatures in the 90s in the Bay Area in recent years. The average day in which San Jose hits 90 or above is May 24, Bingaman said, but last year the city hit 94 on April 7. While the NWS high temperatures were slightly below that 90-degree threshold on Monday, the agency’s Area Forecast Discussion bulletin noted that probabilities for temperatures reaching or exceeding 90 degrees are steadily increasing.
With the hottest days of 2023 thus far on their way, Bay Area residents will want to make sure they prepare for the heat.
“The safety message with this is that for those hotter areas that get in the upper 80s and possibly 90, those areas will be under a moderate heat risk,” Bingaman said. “It shouldn’t have much impact on the general population but for people that are sensitive to heat, think younger children, the elderly or people that are sick, they’ll potentially want to take precautions and make sure that they can keep themselves cooler.”
