Global warming hits Silicon Valley

"High temperatures on Friday are expected to range from around 102 in
the East Bay valleys and the Santa Clara Valley to 112 in the valleys
of San Benito and southern Monterey counties."

Rumpelstiltskin...

Nice and cool so far this A.M. in San Fran - the fog is in.
It's in the low 70's Fahrenheit. It's probably going to be
blazing hot inland though, such as where Golden State
Poppy lives. Yesterday was not too bad here, and was
actually a bit chilly late evening, but the day before was
hot, though only in the '80s I think - nowhere near 100F
as it was inland.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger

Alvin Toda...

IIRC in the summers there's cold water running south from Alaska going
past California. Great to cool the coast. Best time of the year I
think.

Rumpelstiltskin...

Yep, we have a warm current out to sea heading north, and a cold
current running close along the coast from Alaska. The hotter it gets
in California's Central Valley, the lighter the air there gets so that
it's pushed aside by the heavier air spreading out from the ocean.
The heavier air passes first over the warm current where it picks up
water vapour, then over the cold current as it spreads out toward
San Francisco, so that the air can't hold as much vapour as it did
when it was over the warm current. Thus the excess vapour
condenses into fog, leading to the famous Mark Twain quote about
San Francisco in the summertime.

It's the best time of year if you hate the beach, and especially if
you think everybody else should be uncomfortable when they go
to the beach too. As a kid on the East Coast, I went swimming in
the ocean nearly every day in summer, and that was Massachusetts.
Now in San Francisco, quite a bit further south, the beach is rarely
as inviting even on those days where it's not socked in with fog, and
even if one stays out of the water. I've only once been able to
swim in the ocean off San Francisco without severe discomfort,
whereas I was able to swim in Denmark in summertime with
pleasure, though Denmark is about the same latitude as the
Alaska Panhandle.

The nicest swimming I've found is of course on Hawaii.

I live now in the Castro, which is appropriately enough one of the
sunniest places in the city, but I lived one summer on the other side
of Twin Peaks, exposed to the ocean. At that time, I had a great
corner office downtown on the 19th floor of the Embarcadero center,
with two of the walls consisting entirely of floor to ceiling windows.
I put my desk in the corner made by the two windowed walls, and
looked out onto downtown San Francisco all day. It was the best
office I ever had. It was sunny most of the time when I was
working downtown. Then after work, I'd get on the tube, and
once the train passed under twin peaks and came out of the tunnel
into the district where I was living, I was in pea-soup fog. It was a
very depressing transition, and I only lasted one summer living in
that part of town.

Alvin Toda...

Yes. I had a friend that lived in Pacifica where it's quite foggy. She
says the fog is quite uncomfortable. But the sunny areas of the Bay in
the summer are nice. Another friend lived on Alameida Island-- great
for outdoor barbeques. Also, Newark and the marshlands. The weather is
quite pleasant. But I've never found the ocean water at any time to be
comfortable. You have to go north to Marin for warmer water. IIRC
there was some wonderful oyster farms in Inverness, but small bays and
inland streams and ponds in the Russian River area and Napa.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger

Heat Wave Strains Power Grid

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The hot, dry conditions continue Friday as
temperatures once again soar to triple digits around the Bay Area.

The weather is putting a strain on California's power grid.

California Independent System Operator has declared a power watch
through Sunday.

"You don't want to be running washing machine, dishwasher, dryer at the
same time your air conditioner is struggling to keep your home cool,"
said Greg Fishman with CAL ISO.

The system should be able to handle the demand as long as there are no
glitches.

The second day of hot dry conditions means the second day of free rides
on Bay Area public transportation.

BART expects to see an increase in numbers of riders from Thursday's
Spare The Air day event. Find out more about the free rides at the
Spare The Air site.

The National Weather Service has continued a heat advisory until 11
p.m. tonight for the East Bay valleys of the San Francisco Bay region,
the Santa Clara Valley and the valleys of San Benito and southern
Monterey counties.

High temperatures on Friday are expected to range from around 102 in
the East Bay valleys and the Santa Clara Valley to 112 in the valleys
of San Benito and southern Monterey counties.

Very hot weather will also extend through the weekend in these areas,
according to NBC11 Weather Plus meteorologist Craig Herrera.

El Castor...

Gosh, you're right. I live a few miles from there and it's hot! I've
never known it to be hot before! Right now it's a blistering 62
degrees!!!

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into."
Jonathan Swift