Bay Area begins to swelter as heat wave moves into region

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A high pressure system building over the Pacific began cranking up temperatures across the San Francisco Bay Area Thursday, hours before an excessive heat watch was to go into effect.

Thankfully, the National Weather Service has predicted the heat wave and sweltering conditions would be short lived and peak on Friday.

"Given the warm start to the day and hot temperatures across the interior on Friday, an excessive heat watch remains in effect from 11 a.m.to 10 p.m. for all interior areas away from the coast/bays as well as the Santa Cruz Mountains," the weather service said. "Warm temperatures are likely to persist in the hills Friday night as the air mass aloft cools only slightly. However, cooler daytime temperatures are likely on Saturday as onshore flow begins to increase."

By Friday, temperatures will be approaching 93 to 105 degrees in the inland areas.

"High pressure is building from the south," said KPIX meteoroglist Lt. Jessica Burch. "All that warm air from the equator is really diving into our coastline for the next couple days. It heats us up, it dries us up and gives us a lot of sunshine."

The excessive heat watch covers the interior valleys and mountains of the North Bay and East Bay, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Santa Clara Valley from San Jose to the eastern Santa Clara hills, the mountains of San Benito County and interior Monterey County.

 It includes the cities of Angwin, Santa Rosa, South Santa Rosa, Napa, San Rafael, Petaluma, Novato, Rohnert Park, Concord, Antioch, Livermore, Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, San Ramon, Stockton, Scotts Valley, Boulder Creek, Day Valley, San Jose, Blackhawk, Greenfield and King City.

The hot, bone-dry conditions are definitely what the parched, drought stricken region does not need. With each hot day, the dangers of possible wildfires grow and any benefit from last weekend's showers will quickly disappear.

"Avoid outdoor activities during the warmest hours of the day and stay hydrated," the weather service tweeted. "This heat will impact everyone, not just those sensitive to heat risk."

Heat waves are becoming such an issue new legislation was introduced in the state Assembly earlier this year, in hopes of reducing heat-related deaths by ranking heat waves similarly to hurricanes by using categories and names.

The NWS is also considering categorizing heat waves and is in the process of using an experimental product to forecast the effect heat will have on people. This week, heat will push the top of the scale in some inland areas.