Bay Area heatwave now responsible for one death – Santa Cruz Sentinel

The relentless intensity of a Bay Area heat wave that shows no signs of abating anytime soon can now be blamed for a death in the region, authorities said.

A homeless man in San Jose died from the effects of the weather. He was the first known victim of a heat wave that is expected to be a little cooler on Thursday but still exceed 86 degrees Fahrenheit in most inland areas, the National Weather Service said. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced the death on social media.

“A homeless neighbor lost his life on our streets due to the heat,” Mahan said on X (formerly Twitter), adding that it was a “preventable tragedy.”

Most cooling centers in the region were scheduled to remain closed on Thursday for Independence Day, but would reopen on Friday.

As for temperatures, they are expected to drop slightly on Thursday, the weather service said. It is questionable to what extent this will help.

“It’s not going to be the relief we need,” said Joe Merchant, a meteorologist with the weather service. “I don’t know if 40 degrees will feel any different than 42 degrees.”

The weather service has extended a heat warning that has been in effect since Tuesday for another 24 hours, until 11 p.m. on July 10. The heat warning also applies to the Santa Cruz Mountains, where temperatures are expected to reach triple digits. A red flag warning for extreme fire conditions in the East Bay Hills and Santa Cruz Mountains has been extended until 9 p.m. Saturday.

Livermore is expected to be the hottest spot in the region. Highs of 41 degrees are expected Thursday, down from Wednesday’s record-breaking 43 degrees. Brentwood, in far eastern Contra Costa County, is also expected to reach 41 degrees. Concord is expected to reach 39 degrees, and Morgan Hill, the hottest spot in the South Bay, was expected to reach 39 degrees.

At noon, the temperature was 97 in Brentwood, 95 in Livermore, 93 in Concord and 91 in Morgan Hill. In San Jose it was 93 (on the way to a forecast high of 100), in Oakland it was 76 (86) and in San Francisco it was 73 (81).

Because of the heat, Oakland had to cancel its Fourth of July Family Day, and the city of Antioch had to cancel its annual Fourth of July parade.

“There may be a little light at the end of the tunnel around the middle of next week,” Merchant said. “This extreme heat will continue inland and in the high elevations at least through the weekend.”

Merchant said a high pressure system had formed off the coast and was continuing to remain stagnant.

“It’s slowly moving east, really slowly,” he said. “But even on the backside, there’s not much relief. There’s nothing putting pressure on the storm or pushing it forward.”

The system is huge, Merchant said, and triple-digit heat is expected to make for another difficult day for firefighters battling the Thompson Fire in Butte County. It had burned 3,568 acres and was 7% contained early Thursday, according to Cal Fire. Authorities have evacuated 28,000 people.

The brief cooling of 3-4 degrees will only last one day. On Friday, temperatures are expected to rise again by the degrees they lost on Thursday. According to the weather service, temperatures of up to 43 degrees could be possible in some areas on Friday.