Marin temperatures could reach 90s in coming heat spike
A cold front zipped through Northern California over the weekend, bringing showers and a chance of lightning, but a big shift is in store later this week: Tank tops and sandals are in the forecast, as temperatures could exceed 90 degrees in parts of the Bay Area.
The heat wave could tie or possibly break a record of 91 degrees this Thursday in San Jose, which dates back to 1930. Other potential temperatures Thursday include 92 in San Rafael, Kentfield and San Anselmo, 90 in Fairfax, 88 in Novato, 87 in Oakland, 81 in San Francisco and 92 in Concord.
Dylan Flynn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Bay Area temperatures were 10 degrees below average on Sunday. “By around Wednesday to Thursday, we will be 10 degrees above average. For early October, that will be a notable heat wave.”
On Sunday, California entered what meteorologists consider a new “rain year.” It follows a period of major storms last winter that ended the latest drought.
The new water year is a way that meteorologists divide up precipitation measurements for specific regions over time. It turns out the Bay Area was pretty wet during 2022-2023, experiencing one of the biggest water years in a long time.
“I think we were about 140% above average for San Francisco,” Flynn said.
But a big change is on the way as an unusually strong warming pattern shapes up next week. It’s possible that records could be challenged throughout the Bay Area.
“Historically, the first week of October is one of the warmest weeks of the year for us. It’s when we get our offshore wind pattern,” says Ryan Walbrun, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
“The models are saying it could be 90 to 91 degrees on Wednesday, which would put us within a degree of the records there,” says Walbrun. “The record high for San Jose on Oct. 5 is 91, and that goes back to 1930. So yeah, it looks like we’ll be within record territory.”
The Independent Journal contributed to this report.