That heat dome we talked about last week is going to settle in over at least part of California in the next couple of days, but it looks like San Francisco will be spared any extreme heat.
It was quite foggy and overcast in SF Monday morning as the Central Valley began heating up, in a pretty typical pattern for June. But this week will see a heat dome take shape that will bring dangerous, triple-digit temperatures to multiple inland parts of California, including, possibly, parts of the Bay Area.
As the Chronicle reports, the National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for multiple parts of the Central Valley and desert communities today, and more warnings Heat Advisories are on the way.
The weather service lays out a Bay Area map on Xitter showing which areas are under advisories and which are under Excessive Heat Watch starting on Tuesday.
⚠Heat Advisory in effect Tue-Thu for the inland North and Easy Bay, Wed-Thu for the South bay and inland Central Coast. High temperatures in the 90s to lower 100s and lows in the 60s to lower 70s. #CAwx #BayAreaWX pic.twitter.com/CrfRkmfw3f
— NWS Bay Area 🌉 (@NWSBayArea) June 2, 2024
Parts of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, and Sonoma counties will be under a Heat Advisory from Tuesday to Thursday, with areas further inland, including Solano and Sacramento counties in the more extreme category and likely to see the most dangerous temps.
Forecasters are saying that, due to the heat dome, parts of California may see temperatures that are 20 degrees higher than usual for early June.
The weather service also warns that dogs and children should not be left in cars during the heat event for even brief periods, because "car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes."
The heat dome we're about to experience has already hit Mexico in recent days, where, as the New York Times reports, howler monkeys were falling out of trees dead from the heat. At least 48 human deaths have also been linked to the heat event in Mexico.
And this likely won't be the last set of heat warnings we see in the Bay Area, in what could turn out to be a warmer-than-average summer even in SF — though tomorrow, Tuesday, looks to be the warmest day in the city for this week, with a forecast high of 78 degrees, so only mildly hot.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put out a summer temperature outlook last month that shows the Bay Area and almost all of coastal California has a likelihood of seeing temperatures 30 to 40 percent above average between June and August. For the Central Valley, it leans even higher, while much of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico could be in for some really extreme, way above average temperatures.
Top image: Photo by Sofia Simoes
