Bay Area heat wave: All-time record smashed in San Francisco, Livermore hits 114

An epic heat wave that swept through the Bay Area on Friday smashed records — including the all-time recorded high in San Francisco . . . 

The usual relief found along the coast during Bay Area heat waves was nowhere to be found Friday, as cities that hug the water matched, or even eclipsed, inland areas where 100-degree temperatures are common.

It was downtown San Francisco that, somewhat unexpectedly, set the most prominent high, recording 106 degrees by late Friday afternoon. That eclipsed the city’s all-time-high reading of 103 degrees, set in 2000. The predicted high in San Francisco on Friday had been 88.

“This was the highest reading since records were first kept there in 1874,” National Weather Service meteorologist Duane Dykema said Friday afternoon. “That’s the oldest climate station in California. That’s a significant record.”

Many other cities set records for the date; Santa Cruz hit 105 Friday, ahead of the 102 set on Sept. 1, 1955; Salinas’ 103 shattered that city’s Sept. 1 previous high by 12 degrees; and Gilroy hit 106 Friday, passing the city’s Sept. 1, 1976, mark of 102. Three airports set records; San Francisco International’s 104 degrees tied an all-time record; and San Jose’s 108 and Oakland’s 101 set September records.

Why so many high totals close to the water? There was more of an offshore flow than anticipated, Dykema said, carrying more heat from inland areas westward toward the ocean. Richmond hit 100 degrees, and even usually chilly Half Moon Bay was up to 88 degrees.

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Meanwhile, some inland spots that are traditional Bay Area hot spots were sweltering. Livermore hit 114 degrees about 5 p.m. Friday, just shy of its all-time high of 115, and Concord reached 109. Antioch, usually among the region’s hottest cities, hit 104.