Pacifica welcomes roasted inlanders seeking cool relief coastside
PACIFICA -- During the Independence Day holiday, lots of Bay Area residents sought escape from triple-digit heat, making the seaside town of Pacifica pretty popular. People joke about how rarely you see the sun in this foggy town but after this week, gray skies have become a kind of tourist attraction.
In the East Bay, the warnings about extreme heat continued on Saturday. Shortly before noon, the temperature in Walnut Creek was only 91. That seemed pretty good to the Lemelle family who were setting up an outdoor family reunion party at Heather Farms.
"I like it like this," said Frances Lemelle, who lives in Hayward. "I can deal with heat up to about 90-something and then I'm miserable."
The forecast for Walnut Creek was for 103 but Victor Lemelle, who lives in Phoenix, laughed at the idea of California's "dangerous" heat wave.
"It's probably about 105, 106 right now in Arizona. This feels good!" he said. "I wish the summer, the whole summer out there was like this but it's not!"
If there is one place that can be envied for its cool weather it's the town of Pacifica. At 2 p.m. Saturday, the temperature stood at a balmy 66 degrees and the sight of so many fully clothed beachgoers was a tipoff that they had come to get away from the inland heat.
"We were planning to go to a national park but we checked the temperature over there. It's also over 100 degrees so we decided to come to the beach," said Danville resident Ying Zhu.
"Getting away from the oven. It literally feels like we're sitting in an oven at home," said Wilson Yoshida-Ng. "This change in climate, it's been brutal. It's been hot."
Wilson and his wife Flo drove in from San Ramon where triple-digit heat and power failures have taken a toll on residents.
"Six a.m. this morning it was already 78 degrees in the house," Wilson said. "So, the first thing when I get up is to go downstairs and open all the windows and the garage to get all the cool air into the house as soon as possible. And then, by 8 o'clock, close everything up!"
The couple brought their dog along just to watch the calming surf and enjoy the wonderful overcast sky. Pacifica's locals tend to take the cool for granted so all the talk about a heat wave may be helping them appreciate what they have.
"I'm just grateful that it's not happening here," said resident Anne Cobb. "I mean, we've developed a narrow comfort zone: 65 to 71 so this is perfect!"
"Well, you know, there are days when I want to look at the sunshine. I want to walk out my backdoor and get a little Vitamin D," said Nancy Cymerman. "But it's worth it, I think. It's beautiful here. Fog is beautiful, ultimately, I think. Especially on a week like this."
Pacifica has accepted its gray weather in a good-natured way. Each year they host the Pacific Coast Fog Fest at the end of summer to attract tourists. This year it will be celebrated on Sept. 28 and 29, rain or shine or, most likely, fog. At David's Bagels shop, employee Esme Hanlon said it feels good when customers comment on the beauty of her chilly hometown.
"They say that they're traveling from somewhere and they come in and say, 'Oh yeah, it's really hot where we come from and it's super nice here.' It's super pretty and it's just a nice escape."
What might otherwise be considered gloomy has become a nice escape. It turns out that, like beauty, good weather is in the eye of the beholder.
