Recent Bay Area warmth set to give way to a significant cooldown

A stretch of significantly warm if not overwhelmingly hot weather is expected to hit its peak Tuesday, and the cool-off that follows because of an approaching trough it will be noticeable, according to the National Weather Service.

Whether that trough also brings rain with it is far more questionable.

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“Right now, our forecast calls for really light rain in the North Bay later this week,” NWS meteorologist Nicole Sarment said Tuesday. “The trough is supposed to sweep through the region. We’ll see how that evolves.”

Temperatures on Tuesday are expected to climb into at least the mid-70s in many places of the East Bay and South Bay — Concord, Livermore, Pleasanton, San Jose — and could even reach the 80s in far inland East Bay places such as Antioch and Brentwood, according to the weather service.

That warmth caused what the weather services called a “minor” heat risk. The weather service in a social media statement said that risk “generally impacts those most sensitive to above normal temperatures. If working outside, be sure to stay hydrated and take breaks in air conditioning or shade if possible.”

The inland portions of the region and the Central Coast are most at risk for that risk, according to the weather service.

Once Wednesday arrives, those same high temperatures are expected to fall by at least 8-10 degrees throughout the region. That cooldown is expected to bring increasingly cooler temperatures as the trough gets closer. By Friday, the highs are not expected to get much higher than 60 degrees.

“There will be an increase of on-shore flow and stratus,” Sarment said. “The trough also will deepen the marine layer. So it will be all those things you see when the temperatures start to cool.”

If rain does fall in areas other than the North Bay, it is expected to be minimal, Sarment said.

The trough is expected to be through the region by early next week. Sarment said that once that happens, high pressure will start to build along the back of that trough, leading to clearing skies and temperatures building again.

“It’s just textbook,” for mid-and-late spring, Sarment said.

“That high-pressure ridge won’t start to build until Sunday or so,” she said. “Once that process starts to take places, that’s when we we will feel the heat start to build again.”