With temps reaching 101°F on Thursday and 106°F on Friday, the hottest ever in the city, San Francisco marked only the third time since the 1870s that the city has achieved back-to-back days that were hotter than 100°F, the Associated Press reports.
In addition to the heat wave, wildfire activity in the Pacific Northwest, including California, has grown, threatening lives and livelihoods, as well as national treasures.
The fires encroached on a 2,700-year-old grove of giant sequoia trees near Yosemite National Park and have driven people from their homes in Washington state, Oregon, Montana, and other areas. The smoke from the wildfires has also created a sort of dome over San Francisco, making the trapping of heat from the sun even worse.
A little relief from the extreme temperatures is expected by Monday, SFGate.com reported. “For the San Francisco area, we should see substantially cooler temperatures,” the site quoted Drew Peterson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, as saying. “But we still have a heat advisory out and it’s still going to be well above average.”
Before Friday’s high, the previous record for the city was 103°F, set in 2000. Normally cooled by fog that keeps the City by the Bay cool during August, Friday’s high only missed the high in Phoenix by 4°.
