Winter Has Nothing on the Bay Area, With Temperatures Soaring

Although it’s winter here in the Bay Area, it almost feels like spring, as this week the region sees some of its highest temperatures in months.

According to the National Weather Service, the South Bay could reach 80 degrees on Wednesday, while San Francisco and other coastal regions will hit the high 60s and low 70s. NWS meteorologist Scott Rowe said there wasn’t a cloud in the sky in often-foggy Half Moon Bay.

“Today looks like it will be the warmest day for many communities, some of which will be very close to their daily record highs,” Rowe told KQED.

In true February fashion, cooler temperatures and even a chance of rain could return ahead of Super Bowl weekend — but through Friday, warm weather should continue.

The highest temperatures will be south of San Francisco, Rowe said, with San José’s high at around 76 degrees. Farther south, Monterey County and the Salinas Valley are seeing temperatures in the 80s.

San Francisco is expected to hit 69 degrees, while Oakland could reach 71 degrees. Thursday’s temperatures are shaping up to match that warmth, before the area begins cooling off on Friday.

The warm weather is the result of high atmospheric pressure over the region, which by Friday afternoon will clear and make way for a band of low pressure. Temperatures will drop a few degrees through the weekend, though they will remain in the average range for this time of year.

Beginning Sunday, chances for rain will be on the forecast for several days, though Rowe said it won’t be a “washout.”

“Precipitation amounts look to be quite minor,” he said.

The South Bay will likely see less than a quarter inch of rain early next week, he said, while San Francisco could receive up to a half inch of precipitation. Coastal mountain ranges in Marin and Sonoma counties will get the highest amounts, at upwards of an inch

“Not very high totals, especially compared to what we’ve seen earlier this winter,” Rowe said.

Although atmospheric rivers dumped more than 4 inches of rain around the region this fall and early winter, most of January has been virtually dry, and so far, February forecasts aren’t showing signs of huge storms on the horizon.

California’s reservoir levels are still sitting fairly high, at about 70% full, but snowpack in the Sierra is suffering after the warm, and dry, weather.

NWS meteorologist Chris Johnston, who is based in Reno, said that the snow water equivalent in the Lake Tahoe Basin is low for this time of year, at 10.4 inches, compared with the average 18.6 inches.

Even with the return of wet weather early next week, there’s only about a 20% chance that there’ll be more than a foot of snow at Donner Pass, Johnston said.

Last month, state water officials conducted an annual snowpack survey in the Sierra, finding that it sat at just 36% of California’s April 1 average. It’s about 56% of the annual average.

Johnston said that’s “definitely a concern going into the spring season,” since snowpack makes up about a third of the state’s water supply. January is generally the state’s wettest month.

Andy Reising, manager of the state’s Snow Surveys and Water Supply Forecasting Unit, told KQED last month that despite huge storms in December and early January, more rain fell than snow at middle and lower elevations.

“I haven’t seen this much liquid running under the snowpack at this time of year,” Reising said at the time.

So far, this trend is spilling into February: This week, Truckee could hit 56 degrees, while South Lake Tahoe, at 6,200 feet, is expected to see temperatures in the 50s. On Monday, the low could drop to 24 degrees, below freezing. But daytime temperatures are still in the mid-30s, which could mean fresh snow quickly melts away.