70-degree weather in the forecast for the Bay Area this weekend

FILE PHOTO: Dolores Park in San Francisco under the sun: Warm weather is in the forecast for the Bay Area this weekend. FILE PHOTO: Dolores Park in San Francisco under the sun: Warm weather is in the forecast for the Bay Area this weekend. Photo: / Photo: / Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close 70-degree weather in the forecast for the Bay Area this weekend 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

An end to the soggy chill gripping the San Francisco Bay Area is near.

Warm weather with inland locations reaching the low-70s is in the forecast for the upcoming weekend. You can expect sunny picnic-perfect days on Saturday and Sunday.

Since the start of the year, back-to-back storms have slammed the region delivering a continuous stream of cold air, rain, hail, even snow. While Midwesterners would likely consider this winter mild, the icy winds have taunted "weak" Californians who depend on 75-degree days in the middle of February.

But finally, a little over a week before the first day of spring, Mother Nature is turning on the furnace.

"It's going to be a drastic change but a good one," says Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Bay Area. "I think a lot of people are looking forward to it."

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Before the warmer weather arrives, we need to get through a few more winter blips.

Monday is expected to be dry and cool, and on Tuesday a cold will blow across the Bay Area Tuesday delivering blustery conditions with isolated gusts up to 40 mph. The day will be cloudy but by the time the system reaches the region, the moisture will have been squeezed out. Traces of rain are in the forecast for the North Bay. On both days, day-time highs are forecast to be in the 50s to low-60s with overnight lows in the 30s to 40s.

The warming trend will begin Wednesday with a ridge of high-pressure building up along the West Coast and blocking storm activity from the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco could see a high of 61 degrees on Wednesday. But on Thursday, another weak system passing over will push temperatures back down by a couple degree. No precipitation is expected with this system.

On Friday, the ridge will strengthen and temperatures will inch up through the weekend.

"Right now it's looks like mid-60s in the city on Friday and Saturday and mid- to upper-60s across the Bay front. I'm seeing 70s in places such as the North Bay and South Bay such as Hayward, Fremont, down toward San Jose. On Sunday, we're showing upper 60s for downtown San Francisco."