A record-breaking 105 degrees is expected for today, rounding
out three days of hot weather in Morgan Hill and throughout the Bay
Area.
A record-breaking 105 degrees is expected for today, rounding out three days of hot weather in Morgan Hill and throughout the Bay Area.
Relief is expected this weekend as a high pressure ridge gives way starting today along the coast.
The past three days saw highs jump 18 degrees from Tuesday to Thursday. Tuesday’s high was 86, with it climbing to 97 on Wednesday and 104 on Thursday.
Highs will drop to the low 90s on Saturday and into the 80s by Sunday.
Wednesday and Thursday were spare the air days throughout the Bay Area. Wednesday saw pollution levels at 104 and Thursday had levels at 119. Both of these are unhealthy and prompted the spare the air day advisory.
The prediction for today is 104, an unhealthy level. When the levels exceed 101, they become hazardous for people with heath problems, small children and he elderly.
The numbers measure the level of pollutants in the air. The ranges work in increments of 50, each level poses a greater risk to a greater number of people. Anything below 50 is healthy for all, the unhealthy level starts at 101.
When a spare the air day is declared, the Bay Area Air Quality Management Department asks that people don’t drive unless necessary. They encourage car pooling, or hold off using the car until the night when pollutant levels go down People should not use gas powered items such as lawn mowers during the day.
Even though the cherry harvest is nearly over, the heat has affected what is left. According to Mitch Mariani of Mariani Orchards until this point, despite a late season and moderate harvest, the cherries have been great.
“Prior to the heat wave the cherries have been exceptional quality,” he said Thursday afternoon. “They’ve been real large and tasty.”
With the arrival of the heat, the cherries have dropped in quality. The heat speeds up the ripening of the fruit, forcing growers to speed up their harvest. Mariani Orchard has been scrambling to get what they can.
“We’ve been trying (to speed up harvest) for the past three days.” said Mariani. “We didn’t need so many people so they left. Now when we need them, they’re gone. They are not going to wait around.”
The heat has only affected the cherry harvest. Peaches and apricots have, so far, been unaffected.
The heat has promoted a surge on local ice cream businesses. Joanna Curd from Booksmart in Morgan Hill says that there has been a steady traffic of people.
“We’ve made quite a few milk shakes and lots of scoops of ice cream,” she said. Despite the lingering heat through out the week, Thursday was the only day that brought an unusual amount of people to Booksmart.
“I didn’t notice to many (on Wednesday), but (Thursday) has been one right after the other,” said Curd. “People came in all day complaining about the heat.”
