The Bay Area sizzled under another day of searing heat on Wednesday as all the conditions that have contributed to a sizzling start of October remained in place, according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologists marveled at the temperatures high above the ground — which, back on Earth, meant a delay in the relief that was expected to start Thursday.
“What’s really incredible is what’s happening above 1,500 feet,” NWS meteorologist Dylan Flynn said. He said that as the sun rose, air mass at that elevation showed temperatures in the 80s and in some cases 90s that far above the surface. The air 5,000 feet above the surface was the hottest it’s ever been in October, he added, with measurements approaching 80 degrees — well over an average range between about 53 and 65.
That bubble of above-average heat helped keep temperatures near the ground at uncomfortable levels this week.
New temperature records continue to be in play for Thursday, according to the weather service. Originally, that was the day some natural cooling was expected to begin near the coast.
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The weather service said that several heat records were in jeopardy Wednesday. They had forecast highs for Livermore (Alameda County) of 106, Kentfield (Marin County) at 104 and San Jose (Santa Clara County) at 102, all of which would at least match high marks for the day. The Livermore mark would tie its previous record set in 1980, while the San Jose and Kentfield marks would break marks set in 2012.
Even where records don’t fall, it was excessively hot, Flynn said. Brentwood was forecast to reach 107, Concord 106, Walnut Creek 105, and Lafayette 101 in Contra Costa County. Pleasanton was expected to bake at 105, with Oakland and Berkeley at 92 in Alameda County. Morgan Hill was forecast to reach at 104, while Redwood City was supposed to get to 97.
As Flynn put it, it was a “nearly carbon copy” of Tuesday when records fell in San Rafael, Kentfield and San Jose.
The weather service extended an excessive heat warning for the interior parts of region through 11 p.m. Thursday and also extended a heat advisory for the coast through the same time.
The smoggy air trapped by the heat is also expected to continue. The Bay Area Air Management District issued its fourth straight Spare the Air Alert for Thursday.
With another day of unseasonable heat, some sought shelter in cooling centers operated by cities and counties.
Brandy Maldonado, supervising librarian at the Morgan Hill Library, said they began to notice an influx of people when the temperatures passed 90 or 100 degrees. Some of them did not have air conditioning at home. Others were unhoused.
Many of the people visiting the library on Wednesday are regular visitors, and they all expressed gratitude for the library’s air conditioning, she said.
“I would say we get a lot of that — ‘Oh, I’m so glad you have something going on,’ ” Maldonado said.
“It’s too hot to go outside and go to the parks right now,” said Michelle Bacon, of Morgan Hill, who was visiting the Morgan Hill library with her kids. “This is a nice opportunity to get out of the house.”
Jay Raudales, 44, from Milpitas, said while at her city’s public library Wednesday that she frequently goes to cooling centers with her three children.
“Its hot out there. It’s expensive to turn the AC on. So guess what? Thanks to this program, they offer the centers to be open to everyone,” Raudales said. She added that “it’s nice for whoever thought of this idea, this cooling center idea, to really share it, because you want to keep everyone safe.”
“We are trying to beat the heat,” Robertson Dietzel said at the Gilroy library. “It is hot.”
Though he frequents the library, Dietzel added that he does not have air conditioning and planned to stay longer than usual Wednesday because of the heat. On Tuesday, he said, he took advantage of discounted movie tickets to get into an air-conditioned theatre for a few hours.
Any cooldown likely won’t be felt significantly until Friday along the coast, Flynn said. Inland, there may be a day of slight relief on Friday before another jump into the high 90s and possibly 100s through the weekend.
“We have a tiny disturbance that may move through on Friday,” he said. “Once that happens, you’re going to see a rebound in those temperatures for a couple of more days. Eventually, the high pressure will erode, but that’s going to take several days.”
Cooling centers were set to remain open throughout the region again on Wednesday.
Santa Clara County opened libraries in Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Milpitas, Morgan Hill and Saratoga and Sunnyvale as cooling centers, as well as other sites in Campbell, Milpitas and Mountain View.
Alameda County had cooling centers at six sites in Union City, two in Newark and one each in Dublin, Fremont and San Lorenzo. In San Mateo County, cooling centers were at libraries in San Mateo, Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Redwood City, Portola Valley, San Bruno, San Carlos, South San Francisco and Woodside.
In Contra Costa County, the city of Concord said its Senior Center would be available as a cooling center Tuesday and Wednesday. In Martinez, the public library and the senior center will be open as cooling centers.
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