Santa Rosa hits record 103 degrees

Another blast of summer heat in Santa Rosa set a new record Wednesday, with the mercury reaching an uncomfortable 103 degrees.

But just as summer seemed finally to be kicking in, Thursday's forecast calls for a high of only 78, a dramatic drop that should deepen into the weekend.

Wednesday's high beat the previous record of 101 set in 1999, and followed Tuesday's record high in Santa Rosa of 106.

The highest North Coast temperatures were 110 in Cloverdale and 109 in Ukiah.

Many welcomed the warm weather.

"I love the heat, it feels good, it feels so exotic," said Leah Pickar, 18, of Santa Rosa at the city's Wednesday Night Market. Of course, she admitted, she spent most of the day in the Flamingo Hotel's swimming pool.

"But we worry about the animals, we check them all day," added her mother, Miriam Wald, 52, a psychologist.

Santa Rosa High School varsity basketball coach Kris Mahiri, 37, said he'd heard that it had been a hot one.

"I'll tell you what, all I've heard is people complaining about the heat," he said.

But for the native of often muggy Cleveland, Ohio, it was nothing.

"It's actually lot more comfortable than hot and humid," he said.

Then there were those like Susan Smith, 57, who pronounced the market weather "beautiful."

Forecasters had predicted a high of 99 for Wednesday, but heat topped the century mark in many North Coast cities because sea breezes didn't make it as far inland as expected, said meteorologist Austin Cross.

Temperatures today could drop 30 degrees or more following the overnight return of fog to the North Coast.

Saturday's predicted high of only 68 in Santa Rosa, followed by an equally cool day on Sunday, should make for a very different end to a week that began with blistering heat.