GILROY
– Indian Summer visited Gilroy Tuesday, bringing plenty of heat
and cloudless skies.
The day started off at a cool 52 degrees and reached a high of
96 degrees. That was hot enough to match the record set on Oct. 21,
1964.
By Dave Steffenson and Lori Stuenkel
Staff Writers
GILROY – Indian Summer visited Gilroy Tuesday, bringing plenty of heat and cloudless skies.
The day started off at a cool 52 degrees and reached a high of 96 degrees. That was hot enough to match the record set on Oct. 21, 1964.
The middle of the week will cool down, however.
“The next couple of days we’re going to be cooling off a bit,” said Bob Benjamin, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Monterey.
Wednesday and Thursday will bring noticeably cooler temperatures into the mid and upper 70s, Benjamin said.
But temperatures will climb back into the mid 80s by Friday and hit the upper 80s on Saturday and Sunday.
According to Chris Morgan of the California Department of Forestry, the heat, combined with low humidity, is cause for concern.
“As of 8 o’clock this morning, we are holding our staff over,” he said Wednesday. “If you’re scheduled to go home, you’re not going home.”
The unit is hoping that humidity levels will rise by the end of the weekend, but Morgan said if it takes longer, then the staff will remain ready. Fire season usually lasts until the end of October, but last year didn’t end until Nov. 3. Morgan said this has been a tough year.
“It’s been a very hard summer,” he said. “It’s probably been one of historical significance for this unit.”
Morgan estimated that 50,000 acres of land had burned in fires this year – most due to lightning strikes. And the unit will continue to put in long hours until season’s end.
“Long-term, we’re not looking at any rain in the foreseeable future, at least for a couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s just dry; it’s bone dry out there. … It’s remarkable.”
Morgan urged visitors to the dry mountain and park areas in the coming weeks to use caution.
“For heaven’s sake, please use good judgment,” he said. “They have so far …”
