Memorial Day Weekend: Temperatures Soaring; Highways Congested; Airports Crowded

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- With new COVID-19 cases continuing to plunge and restrictions mostly lifted, thousands of San Francisco Bay Area residents will be hitting the roadways or joining the long lines at the airports Friday to take advantage of the Memorial Day Weekend.

For those enjoying a staycation, a trip to the beach may be in store as forecasters warned that temperatures in th Bay Area will be soaring toward the triple digits by Monday. The National Weather Service has issued a heat risk advisory for the holiday.

Travelers began crowding into Oakland International Airport early Friday morning and the lines were expected to grow as 30,000 or more were set to travel through the terminals.

Among them was Dashara Smart, who was traveling with her two small children.

"It's a breathe of fresh air," she said of traveling after months of COVID-19 restrictions. "The babies are so happy. This is the first time they are flying. They are so excited. They are taking a holiday."

Lisa Delemark echoed those sentiments.

"It feels great to get out of town," she told KPIX 5. "To get out of the zip code. So we're excited about that...I can't wait to see the in-laws and the aunties who have been sequestered for all these months and see some old friends and just maybe have some drinks and have some hugs."

Dominique was traveling to Phoenix.

"Everybody wants to kind of get out of house," he said. "I work from home so I'm looking forward to just getting away."

For San Francisco Bay Area residents traveling on the roadways, AAA Northern California officials said to be prepared for crowded highways on the way to Lake Tahoe and other getaways.

The agency expects more than 37 million people to travel 50 miles or more from home for the Memorial Day holiday -- an increase of 60% from 2020 when only 23 million traveled, the lowest on record since AAA began tracking travel data in 2000.

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• Memorial Day