Northern California expecting hotter days this week

Northern California is heating up this week with high temperatures that prompted the National Weather Service to issue a hazardous weather outlook for parts of San Francisco Bay ?and an excessive heat watch in other areas.

The hottest day of the week is forecast to be Tuesday, when the mercury will hit 96 in Santa Rosa, 105 in Cloverdale and perhaps close to 110 in parts of Napa, Lake and Mendocino counties. The excessive heat watch is in effect for those areas through Wednesday, when those highs are expected to dip by just a few degrees. Increasingly warm overnight lows are expected.

“It will be very warm starting (Monday). It will last into the week and possibly next weekend,” meteorologist Brian Mejia said Sunday, adding that a ridge of high pressure building over Northern California and northeast Nevada is to blame.

Fire danger is always an issue this time of year, but the relative humidity is not projected to be critically low.

“It will be dry, but not overwhelmingly dry,” he said. “Winds are not expected to be really gusty.”

Parts of northern Napa County near Lake Berryessa could be flirting with close to 110 degrees on Tuesday, as well as Ukiah and Hopland in Mendocino County, according to the Weather ?Service. Sacramento could hit 115.

Officials said the heat can ?lead to stress and exhaustion, especially for the elderly and at-risk populations, as well as those engaging in outdoor activities.

People and pets should never be left inside a parked vehicle.

“Even 15 minutes in a hot car can be devastating to a child,” Mejia said.

Slight cooling is expected by Thursday, but very warm to hot conditions are forecast to persist through the end of the week.

There will be respite closer to the ocean.

“Expect onshore flow to continue,” he said. “It will be much cooler than inland. The beach and along the coast will be in the 60s to 70s.”

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 707-521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@clarkmas.