2nd day of scorching heat breaks local records with more on the way

For the second day in a row, Santa Rosa experienced record-breaking heat Tuesday. The city’s high of 100 blew past the previous high set in 1945.|

Sonoma County endured a second straight day of record-breaking heat Tuesday, with a daytime high of 100 degrees in Santa Rosa that eclipsed a previous mark of 96 set in 1945.

The wider Bay Area sizzled, with a high of 92 in San Francisco that tied a record standing since 1877. Napa also broke a record with a high of 102, shattering a previous record of 97 set in 1904.

And Santa Rosa wasn’t the hottest place in Sonoma County - Healdsburg and Cazadero both hit 103, according to the National Weather Service, while AccuWeather reported Sonoma as the hottest place in the county with a high of 105, though the National Weather Service was not able to confirm that number.

The springtime heat wave that arrived late last week has banished coastal fog and cooling maritime winds. The record highs on Monday and Tuesday were about 20 degrees hotter than average in Sonoma County for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service.

And Wednesday isn’t expected to bring much relief, with a predicted high of 93 in Santa Rosa.

The underlying factor, ?according to Will Pi, a National Weather Service meteorologist, is the direction of the wind.

“It’s blowing marine air out, away from the coasts. It’s just blowing in the hot air from the inland areas,” he said. “And so the result is, the temperatures you normally get over the Sacramento Valley carryiesies over into our area.”

Pi did offer some hope for sweltering residents. Temperatures Thursday and Friday are supposed to drop back into the mid-80s and stay that way through the weekend.

And cooler evenings will bring some relief, Pi said. Nighttime lows in San Francisco and Oakland were expected to be about 65 degrees Tuesday night, while Santa Rosa was expected to drop to 59.

“You got a little cool spot out in the North Bay. You’re lucky, you guys cool off at night,” Pi said. “Most places stay in the mid-number 60s, pretty uncomfortable.”

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