40% to 60% likelihood of rain in San Francisco Bay Space forecast

After the sweltering weather during the work week, the San Francisco Bay Area is expected to see cooler temperatures and breezy conditions through the weekend and a chance of rain on Monday, the National Weather Service said.

The ridge of high pressure that was hunkered over California and drove up temperatures has broken down, allowing cold fronts and storm systems to reach the region.

A dry cold front sweeping Northern California on Saturday is expected to push down Bay Area temperatures and kick up winds. Afternoon highs are forecast to be in the upper 70s inland and in the upper 50s on the coast. Winds will heighten wildfire risk, especially after the heat wave that dried out vegetation, the weather service said. On Sunday, temperatures will likely continue to drop, with afternoon highs in the low 70s in inland valleys and low 50s at the coast.

A weak storm system is expected to drop down from the Pacific Northwest on Monday, arriving in the North Bay in the morning and spreading south into the central Bay Area in the afternoon, said Roger Gass, a forecaster with the weather service.

This is good news for a region that saw record-low rainfall for the period of January through March, but the projected rainfall totals are minimal and won’t put a dent in drought conditions.

“Right now, generally speaking, precipitation chances for the Bay Area are in the 40% to 60% range for Monday,” said Gass. “Most locations will see less than a tenth of an inch. Some of the coastal ranges could pick up two tenths of an inch to a quarter of an inch.”