Amid a month that commonly brings buckets of rain to the Bay Area, cities throughout the region are reaching temperatures as much as 25 degrees warmer than their seasonal average.
Downtown Oakland (76 degrees) and Redwood City (75 degrees) on Thursday matched temperature records set in 1988, while San Jose (76 degrees) blew its previous record of 73 degrees, set in 2016, out of the water.
According to National Weather Service meteorologist Roger Gass, normal daytime high temperatures for February range in the low 60s.
"That's pretty much for the entire San Francisco Bay Area as well as the Central Coast down in the Monterey Area," he told KCBS Radio. "These temperatures are a good 15-20, even 25 degrees above their seasonal averages."
Gass explained the unusual heat wave is due to a high pressure system sitting over California.
"That high pressure has strengthened in the past several days causing this really rapid warming of temperatures and it doesn't look to move anytime soon," he said.
San Francisco residents and visitors took advantage of the warm weather all across the city on Thursday, with people at Crissy Field casting aside the sweatshirts and jackets usually necessary this time of year, instead sporting swimsuits and shorts.
Gretchen Young, a former San Franciscan who now lives in the Midwest, told KCBS Radio on Thursday she wasn't surprised the day was so nice, even if it was unusually warm.
"I think this time of year, February and March, was the best-kept secret in San Francisco with this beautiful weather," she said.
The Bay Area will likely continue to see the climbing temperatures into the weekend, with highs of up to 80 degrees.
Gass said heat is not only affecting Northern California, but has also creeped down to Los Angeles and paved the way for the hottest Super Bowl on record.
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