Cooling weather in the San Francisco Bay Area
A cold front swept through Northern California on Monday and brought breezy conditions to the Bay Area in the evening. While no rain fell on the front, air blew in from the Pacific Ocean all the way inland. As a result, high temperatures across the Bay Area will see a dip on Tuesday, falling as much as 10 degrees below the mercury mark on Monday.
Patchy morning clouds will burn through a mainly sunny Tuesday afternoon with temperatures ranging from the lower to mid 60s at the coast to the upper 70s near the Gulf and the lower 80s inland. Some high clouds over the North Bay in the evening could help with a colorful sunset before widespread low clouds and patchy fog return overnight.
Tuesday collapse
San Francisco: Active winds that continued throughout the night stirred the atmosphere resulting in patchy fog and clouds on Tuesday morning. The clear midday skies are not expected to last long, as a renewed marine layer covers the city from west to east throughout the afternoon and evening.
High temperatures will be in the mid 60s in the Lakeshore, Parkside, Sunset and Richmond areas. Warmer weather will be found near downtown, the Mission District and Noe Valley, where highs will reach 70 degrees, with temperatures as high as 60 degrees elsewhere in the city. Overnight lows will drop to the mid 50s with fog and drizzle in Twin Peaks, Mount Davidson and west of Sutro Tower.
East Bay: Residents of the Berkeley Hills and Oakland have the opportunity to wake up to clouds after moist winds from the Pacific Ocean blew toward the hills overnight. Clearing is likely by mid-morning with temperatures a few degrees below normal, in the upper 60s to 70s in Richmond, Berkeley, Oakland and Alameda. Hayward and Fremont would reach the mid-70s.
Offshore clouds are expected to return to the Gulf shore overnight, with overnight lows in the mid to upper 50s.
High temperatures in Concord, Martinez, Dublin, Livermore and the rest of the Interstate 680 corridor will be 5 to 7 degrees cooler than Monday, in the lower 80s. Despite the drop in temperatures, skies will remain mostly sunny except for some high clouds in the evening.
North Bay: The cold side of the departing cold front will be most pronounced across the North Bay, where high temperatures on Tuesday will be up to 10 degrees lower than on Monday. Vacaville will drop into the mid 80s while Santa Rosa, San Rafael, Sonoma, Napa and Vallejo will also peak in the lower 80s. Residents of Sausalito and Tiburon can expect a lifespan in the lower 70s.
Weather models predict high clouds will pass over the North Bay in the evening, which could add a splash of color to the seventh hour of sunset. Light winds overnight mean fog may form in the Petaluma, Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Low temperatures will drop to the lower to mid 50s.
Pacific coast and peninsula: Residents on the frigid Pacific Coast won’t notice much of a cooling off in the wake of Monday night’s cold front, but high temperatures in Daly City and Half Moon Bay could dip a degree or two on Tuesday, in the low to mid-60s. Light winds overnight mean fog may return, most likely in Pacifica.
High temperatures on Tuesday will be about 5 degrees cooler than Monday along the Highway 101 corridor. Expect highs in the upper 60s in San Bruno, low 70s in San Mateo and mid 70s in Redwood City. Clouds could extend across the Coast Range and toward Gulfside cities overnight, with overnight lows in the mid 50s.
South Bay and Santa Cruz: After a few days in the mid to upper 80s, temperatures in Santa Clara County will drop to near normal seasonal averages. Temperatures in Palo Alto will drop about 5 degrees from Monday’s highs to the mid 70s, but San Jose, Cupertino and Sunnyvale will remain near their highs on Monday, in the upper 70s to 80s.
Santa Cruz will remain mainly clear on Tuesday, but temperatures are expected to drop to near 70 degrees, more than 5 degrees cooler than Monday. Temperatures in Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley, and Felton will also cool into the mid to upper 70s.
Fog is expected to develop overnight in Monterey Bay and extend into Santa Cruz on Wednesday morning. Overnight low temperatures in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties will range from the low 50s in the mountains, mid 50s on the coast to upper 50s inland.
Contact Anthony Edwards: anthony.edwards@sfchronicle.com
