Another triple-digit scorcher in Sonoma County, then some relief in store

Hang on for one more scorching day, with triple-digit temperatures expected Thursday in Santa Rosa, where Snoopy's Home Ice is always one of the literally coolest places in town.

Crowds have been swelling at the ice arena since Sunday's record-setting 106-degree roasting, with another mark in the offing if the National Weather Service's 105-degree forecast proves accurate.

The 23-year record for Thursday's date is 102, set in 2006.

And the heat wave, which began June 16, will continue with highs in the 90s through Saturday giving way to the 80s Sunday and Monday.

“It's fabulous in here,” Gina Huntsinger, general manager at Snoopy's ice rink, said Wednesday afternoon. “I come home fresh and my family's dying” in Rincon Valley.

For the record, the ice arena is busiest during the winter holidays, she said.

Local temperatures had eased somewhat along the coast since Sunday with the weakening of a high pressure ridge, weather service meteorologist Duane Dykema said.

Breaks like that are important, he said, as steady heat, with little nighttime respite, “brings on adverse health effects.”

But the ridge is expected to strengthen again Thursday, along with northerly offshore winds that will drive up the mercury, Dykema said.

The wind will shift by mid-day to a more usual onshore flow, bringing cooler air in off the ocean and leading to a forecast high of 94 Friday in Santa Rosa, followed by 92 Saturday.

The weather service expects a high of 88 Sunday and 84 Monday, with genuine relief Tuesday and Wednesday at 78 degrees.

For public skating times at the ice arena go to www.snoopyshomeice.com.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.