The Bay Area saw record high temperatures in several places Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Several Bay Area cities, including Gilroy, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Dublin and San Jose, topped out at 100 degrees during the peak of the afternoon heat.
A heat advisory and a third consecutive spare the air alert were issued for Wednesday through 8 p.m. And Cal Fire spokesman Brandon Lietzke said the agency was on high alert because of the rising temperatures.
Downtown San Francisco saw temperatures reach 88 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 87 degrees set in 1922.
San Francisco International Airport saw temperatures reach 90 degrees. The previous high set in 2006 was 87 degrees.
Temperatures at the Oakland Museum of California and Oakland International Airport hit 89 degrees. The temperatures recorded at the museum tied a 2006 record, and temperatures at the airport broke the 2008 and 2006 record of 86 degrees.
Mountain View tied a 2008 record with temperatures reaching 90 degrees.
The scorching heat had many flocking to the beach. Before the sun came up, many were already out at San Francisco's Ocean Beach jogging, surfing and just taking in the incredible low-hanging orange moon overing over the ocean. Some where even hoping to catch another glimpse of a pod of whales, which NBC Bay Area's chopper spotted on Tuesday afternoon spouting off in the ocean.
Judy Melinek, who lives near the beach, grabbed her daughter, Leah, before school and took her to see the moon and the early morning waves. "I said, get up and get your jacket," she recounted on what she told her daughter. "It's time to go to the beach."
The average temperature for this time of year in San Jose is 76 degrees, and the record high was 93 degrees set in 1972. On Tuesday, San Francisco broke another heat record, when the city reached 90 degrees, breaking the old record of 87 degrees set in 1927.
Thursday's weather should cool down a bit, with temperatures dropping off by about five to 15 degrees. The weekend looks to be cooler too, with temperatures topping out in the 70s inland and 60s on the coast.
NBC Bay Area's Christie Smith and Bay City News contributed to this report.
