Another day of record-breaking heat for Santa Rosa and Sonoma County

A second day of record-breaking temperatures in the North Bay drove Patti Lew of Petaluma and many other like-minded people to seek air conditioned refuges to escape the blazing heat.

All Saturday afternoon children’s movies were sold out at Petaluma theaters, Lew said. So she loaded her two sweaty boys back into the car and headed to the Roxy Stadium in downtown Santa Rosa for a 5 p.m. showing of “Cars 3.”

“After two days in our hot house, I had to get them out,” said Lew, pushing 3-year-old Fynn in the stroller and holding 10-month-old Jack in the movie theater lobby. “It was perfect, it was packed. There were children running around the theater so I didn’t have to worry about him making noise.”

Santa Rosa hit 110 degrees again Saturday, marking a second consecutive day of record-breaking temperatures the city and many others across the region, National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Anderson said.

“We’re breaking all time record temperatures for places that have been taking temperature readings for 150 years - it’s unprecedented,” Anderson said. “We’re living history right now.”

Cloverdale again hit a high of ?115 degrees Saturday, Rohnert Park reached 114, Petaluma 112 and even Cazadero, which makes its biggest marks in winter rainfall, hit a scorching 111, according to AccuWeather’s Saturday report.

With those two days in the books, history won’t be made today, at least not with high temperatures, Anderson said. The high for Santa Rosa is forecast to drop to 100 degrees - cooler but still a sizzler for the city.

The ridge of high pressure that settled over the western United States is on its way east, gradually dropping temperatures across the region and once again allowing the sea breeze inland. Temperatures were expected to decrease over several days, with daytime highs forecast to be in the low 80s by Wednesday.

As dusk fell Saturday, the most stifling heat had begun to lift and families with frolicking children once again populated the grassy space at Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse Square where the US Bank clock read 97 degrees at 7:30 p.m.

Cloverdale native, Crystal Orozco, tapped out a steel handpan duet with Jan Accornero of Sacramento, sending ethereal notes into the air.

“It was hard to get out,” said Abel Garza of Santa Rosa, who reclined on the grass as his daughters, 7 and 4, ran around. “And it is a beautiful scene here now.”

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.