Bay Area cities on pace to beat record heat - again

San Francisco and San Jose, among other cities in the Bay Area, have set or tied heat records since the beginning of February, and Wednesday's temperatures mean these cities and are on pace to keep up the trend.

KTVU's meteorologist Steve Paulson said San Francisco should reach 73 degrees, San Jose could reach 76 and Livermore could reach 74 -- all of those numbers would beat or tie records set in 2006 or 2011.

The warm weather pattern is highly unusual, according to the National Weather Service. Nearly every day has been above 70 degrees, while typically that occurs only three to five times for the entire month of February.

The reason is a high pressure front that "loves California," Paulson said, while he and many other experts believe climate change is also behind the heat.

And in Southern California, the situation is even more dire. This week, a national drought monitor shows that Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties have fallen back into a severe drought and 44 percent of the state is in a moderate drought.

As for when it might rain again, Paulson said it might not happen until Feb. 22, and even then, that's not a sure thing.