The windiness and chilliness of the last couple weeks is going to be slowing down and warming up this week (at least during daylight hours), with San Francisco looking at a downright balmy high of 74 on Friday according to the National Weather Service — Weather Underground actually puts Friday's high at 70 in central SF, with highs of 74 hitting on Saturday and Sunday (which probably means 80 in the Mission).

Meanwhile over in places like Livermore and Concord, you're looking at highs in the 90s by Friday, with the warming trend beginning today.

The reason for this is an area of high pressure moving into the region which is responsible for the stiller air, fogless days, and sunshine that we often associate with late-spring and early fall in San Francisco. (It was a cold low-pressure system combining with warmer surface temperatures last weekend that caused unstable air masses and was responsible for all that weird weather last weekend, and some rare June rain.)

Long story short: You'd better live it up this weekend because it's mid-June, and the typical summer pattern of long, fog-covered days and occasional glimpses of sunshine after 3 p.m. is about to set in, and it won't likely give way until September, barring some fluke in the patterns of these things. For their part, long-term forecasters are saying this summer may even be colder than usual.

This means you should perhaps be braving the beach* this weekend, relaxing in a park with a picnic, taking a drive down or up the coast, hosting a rooftop fete, or traipsing up and down the Embarcadero to enjoy the sun and warmth while it lasts.

Let this be your weekend jam, as you wait on the summer to arrive.


* I make no guarantees that this won't be a sweater-required beach weekend.