The same temperature swing this week would have seen a Lana Del Rey-featured song, “Snow on the Beach,” become a reality along SF’s Ocean Beach.
It feels like only yesterday we were all sitting in front of our floor fans turned up to Power Ranger Mode. Records were set across the San Francisco Bay Area for highs recorded for the date—San Francisco, for instance, saw a brow-sweating 97 degrees, which bested a decade-old record of 92 degrees for the hottest October date.
The region’s heat wave also stuck around much later than expected, lingering for nearly a week as opposed to the forecasted two or three days. In fact: 2024’s early October heat wave proved to be the hottest week in San Francisco in over 150 years.
But because of our city’s microclimates, San Francisco was keen on cooling down as quickly as possible. By October 9th, just two days after besting a decades-old heat record, temperatures in the seven-by-seven range entered the mid-50s.
That’s correct, reader: San Francisco saw a 40-degree temperature swing from Monday to Wednesday last week.
Weather forecasts on October 9th saw morning temperatures in the mid-50s throughout much of San Francisco — a stark contrast to the nearly triple-digit-heat recorded near SF’s downtown neighborhoods on October 7th.
To put that swing into some perspective, tomorrow’s unusually warm high of 76 degrees would’ve meant even the historically hottest parts of San Francisco could see temperatures in the middle to high 30s. Toward the more Western neighborhoods, morning and evening fog could’ve, theoretically speaking, caused the ground to frost over — a little snow-on-the-beach action, if you will.
I’m Temperatures over the next few days are forecasted to be unusually warm. Though while not at risk of us sweating through every bit of clothing amid temperatures common during a Texas summer, expect mopping your brows in the presence of middle to upper 70-degree highs
