Quick Take:
Santa Cruz’s heat wave is here to stay, at least for the next seven days. NWS meteorologists say that the system keeping the heat hovering over the county doesn’t appear to be dissipating until late next week.
Independence Day’s scorching weekend appears to be bleeding into the following days, as temperatures look to stay elevated throughout most, if not all, of next week.
As per usual, how hot it will be for you depends on where you are in the county. In any event, it will be hot, though. Lower elevation areas like the cities of Santa Cruz and Capitola are likely to see highs between the mid-80s and low-90s over the next seven days, while Scotts Valley residents can expect highs in the high-80s to mid-90s. The mountain communities will bear the brunt of the heat, with highs in the mid-90s to low-100s over the next seven days.
NWS has now extended its heat advisory for Santa Cruz County until Wednesday, July 10, at 11 p.m.
Most of those traveling out of the area for Fourth of July won’t escape the heat. While San Francisco and Monterey look to be getting fairly modest heat — mostly in the low-80s — Los Angeles, the southern central coast, and San Jose all will be getting consistent 90°F+ throughout the next seven days.
Some common travel spots are rather hot, too. Yosemite is going to be consistently in the mid-80s throughout the weekend — though it’s currently 101°F. Then, there’s Napa and Sacramento, which both expect highs well over 100°F next week, and the latter might reach a ridiculous 111°F high on Saturday.
“This kind of pattern is something that we would expect more in August and September,” National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Dalton Behringer told Lookout. “That’s why we’re messaging it so hard now, it’s early in the season and lasts for a long duration.”
Behringer said that hot days are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. He explained that a high pressure system — a clockwise flow of dry, sinking air — has parked itself over the Bay Area, and extended even farther inland. That air has become stable, and keeps other weather systems from entering and pushing the heat out.
“You get that on a large scale, and it can actually block anything else that comes in and direct any other weather systems around it,” he said. “Honestly, the way it’s looking now, there’s not a lot coming along to push this ridge out of the way.”
Behringer said that, currently, temperatures are looking above average through at least the weekend of July 13 and 14.