Memorial Day Weekend Weather Won’t Quite Feel Like Summer for Much of Bay Area

Memorial Day weekend will usher in the summer season with mild weather as Bay Area temperatures lull between warm-ups.

If you’re looking to get some sun or a tan, you might need to head to the outer edges of the Bay, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures in the inland parts of Sonoma and Santa Clara counties could reach into the 80s on Saturday, but San Francisco and its surrounding counties will likely linger in the 60s throughout the holiday weekend.

Friday temperatures will be cooler than earlier in the week, settling around the high 60s and low 70s in most Bay Area counties.

While Monterey County and parts of Sonoma could hit the 80s, Brayden Murdock, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Bay Area office, warned that people trying to beat the heat with a trip to the beach won’t find a sunny coastline.

“The marine environment is going to be a bit on the rougher side,” he said. “Windy conditions, that can mean some sea breeze and sea spray, and then on top of that, the water is still pretty cold.”

Since the sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean is about 50 degrees, Murdock said that unsuspecting swimmers could risk cold water shock. Boating is also going to be somewhat hazardous due to winds, he said. There will be small craft advisories and gale warnings, which indicate high winds, spanning the Bay Area’s coastline for much of the weekend.

Unfortunately for Memorial Day beachgoers, “I want to keep people kind of aware that as they go through the weekend that maybe the marine environment is not so much your friend,” Murdock said.

The valley, on the other hand, will be in top form for BottleRock this weekend, with warm but mild temperatures for the Napa area.

Throughout the music festival, Napa is looking at low to mid-70s weather throughout the day, and slightly breezy, cool nights – perfect for dancing, drinking wine and bundling up after the sun goes down.

The weekend’s weather will also be right for barbecues, so long as people take proper fire precautions. Murdock said that on Thursday, the weather service recorded a fair number of fires as the Bay Area enters its dry summer season.

“On Memorial Day weekend, a lot of people get out and about, [and] unfortunately, sometimes that comes with some increased wildfire risk,” he told KQED. “We’re not going to be seeing the winds that hit the criteria for fire weather watch or even a red flag warning, but we still want people to be aware it is dry out there.”

He said grillers should keep an eye out for any sparks or coals that jump into the grass, and anyone out four-wheeling or dirt biking should stay on well-groomed paths, since the exhaust pipes on their bikes can easily spark a fire.

Next week, temperatures will rise to about the same highs as earlier this week, ushering in June with beautiful, sunny skies.