'Wild Card' Storm To Hit The Bay Area This Week

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CA — Following a sweltering start to the week for the Bay Area, storm systems traveling from Southern California are expected to bring widespread rain and scattered thunderstorms to the region midweek.

Warm weather is expected to persist through Tuesday, followed by stormy conditions into Wednesday, with seasonable weather to return for the rest of the week, according to the National Weather Service.

The rain is predicted to start first in areas like San Benito, where a 20 percent chance of showers begins after 11 a.m. on Tuesday. That evening, in cities like Pleasanton and San Francisco, there's a 30 percent chance showers will arrive after 11 p.m.

Matt Mehle, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, told SFGATE that a few hundredths of an inch of rain is expected across the region.

“If it goes that far north, that’s the wild card, in terms of how much precipitation we’ll get out of this,” Mehle said. Down on the Central Coast, anywhere from a tenth to a quarter of an inch of rainfall is expected.

Stormy weather will arrive on the heels of significant heat in the Bay Area, with temperatures expected to top 95 degrees in Novato and 97 in Pleasanton on Tuesday, which is supposed to be the hottest day of the week. San Francisco could reach 81 degrees and Alameda 86 degrees that same day, according to the NWS.

The week could also bring "major heat risk" to East Bay counties and into Santa Clara County.

Last week, the Bay Area sizzled with an end-of-summer heat wave, which was followed by dry lightning strikes, elevating fire danger.

The three-day warm spell also brought gusty winds, tropical moisture and daytime highs in the 80s, with some areas reaching triple digits.

While dry lightning strikes are possible this week, it is far less likely due to the expected rain.

"Storms should be sufficient rain makers as PWATs range 1.0-1.4 inches, meaning dry lightning should be limited," the NWS wrote in its Monday forecast discussion. "As the low meanders towards the east on Thursday, conditions begin to dry out. High temperatures return to near normal for this time of year and continue into the weekend."

Mehle, however, told SFGATE that the weather service will monitor for offshore winds that blow toward the coastline, which "usually brings fire weather."

"Right now we’re expecting it’ll just enhance warm and dry conditions,” he told the newspaper. “Maybe it’ll get rid of some clouds.”

As the summer came to a close over the weekend, the region saw a dramatically warmer second half of summer than the first. The Bay Area experienced its coldest start to a summer in decades. In fact, the National Weather Service Bay Area office dubbed July "No Sky July."

SEE ALSO: 'No Sky July': The Bay Area Is Experiencing Its Coldest Summer In Decades