Desmond Donatelli, 4, stays cool while playing in the spray ground at the Pleasant Hill Aquatic Park in Pleasant Hill, Calif., on Monday, July 1, 2024. The Bay Area will be under a heat advisory by the National Weather Service from Tuesday to Friday with temperatures reaching an estimated 111 degrees in East County. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Temperatures were expected to creep up again in the Bay Area on Wednesday, enough so that the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for some areas.
That development alone may not seem all that newsworthy during a summer that brought a sizzling July with temperatures that consistently hovered at or above 100 degrees for much of the month. Yet, there is a slight difference to the heat this time around, according to forecasters.
“We going to have some mugginess the next couple of days,” NWS meteorologist Brayden Murdock said Wednesday morning. “It’s very muggy for the West Coast. It’s not the kind of East Coast muggy that you can see, but people out here who aren’t used to it will definitely notice it.”
The worst of the heat likely will be Wednesday, according to Murdock. Temperatures in the hottest interior places are expected to run between 97 and 102 degrees, while the relative humidity in those spots is expected to be at least 60%. The South Bay’s hottest places will range from the high 80s to low 90s with humidity near 70%.
Closer to the water, temperatures will hover in the in the 70s, but the humidity is likely to be above 80%, according to the weather service.
The heat advisory is in effect until 9 p.m. Wednesday for the Santa Clara Valley, the Eastern Santa Clara Hills, the Southern Salinas Valley, and the interior part of San Benito and Monterey counties, according to the weather service.
“The mugginess we’re getting is coming from some of the remnants of three tropical storms that tried to form up south of Baja,” Murdock said. “Those systems all fizzled, and sent some of their elements up north.”
The effect of it also will be felt on Thursday, when temperatures begin to drop off by 6-8 degrees.
“Don’t be mistaken by the temperatures. It’s gonna feel hot,” Murdock said. “It’s gonna be hard to escape the heat if you’re out and about. Make sure to take time to get out of the heat and take time to cool down. It’s gonna be hazardous.”
The temperatures will cool down even more once the weekend arrives, Murdock said, though moisture in the air will continue to be at play.
“It’s gonna be sneaky heat,” he said. “Be careful.”
Originally published at Rick Hurd