The Bay Area barely had time to notice the cooldown. After the warmest March ever recorded, including seven days at or above 80 degrees in San Francisco, a few days of near-normal temperatures offered little relief. This weekend the heat is back, with inland valleys climbing into the mid-80s and San Francisco on track to hit 80 degrees for the eighth or ninth time this year.

Last month was not just the warmest March on record across most of the region. It was the warmest anomaly of any month ever measured, in histories stretching back more than a century at many Bay Area stations. Santa Rosa ran nearly 11 degrees above its monthly average. San Francisco, with 152 years of data, came in 7.7 degrees above its mean for the month.

Then this week happened. A weak front pushed through Wednesday night, clouds moved in, and temperatures dropped back toward seasonal norms for the first time in weeks. Rainfall totals were modest at best, with most Bay Area locations picking up just hundredths of an inch.

The break is over.

The warming trend returns Friday, driven by strong offshore winds that will push temperatures 5 to 10 degrees above average across the region. The Bay Area will be squeezed between a departing low pressure system over the interior West and a building ridge of high pressure from the Pacific, driving northeast winds that will gust to 25 to 40 mph along the ridgelines of the North Bay interior mountains, the Diablo Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains. That downslope flow will dry out the atmosphere early in the day, setting the stage for rapid afternoon warming.

The peak of the warmth will be over the weekend, when large parts of the Bay Area will see temperatures in the 80s, about 10 to 20 degrees above normal for early April. San Francisco should make a run at 80 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday, but the city will have to contend with an afternoon sea breeze each day, which could cap temperatures in the 70s.

Regardless, the first weekend of April will be much like all of the weekends in March, with lots of sunshine and very warm temperatures.

Weekend breakdown

San Francisco: Friday starts the warm stretch with highs climbing into the upper 70s as offshore flow dries out the city through the morning. Saturday looks like the peak, with some eastern neighborhoods potentially flirting with 80 before the sea breeze starts pushing back in late. By Sunday, the warmth should ease, with the city settling back into the upper 60s to low 70s.

North Bay: Inland valleys will lead the warmup on Friday, with highs rising into the upper 70s to low 80s as downslope flow helps dry and warm the interior. Saturday should be as warm or a touch warmer, with Santa Rosa and Napa likely reaching the mid-80s. Sunday will be a bit milder, with most inland spots returning to the 70s.

East Bay: The inland East Bay valleys will be the hottest part of the region this weekend. On both Friday and Saturday, Concord, Livermore and Walnut Creek should climb into the low to mid-80s. Sunday may end up being the warmest day inland, with widespread readings in the mid-80s. Closer to the bay, cities like Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond will be warm as well, with temperatures in the mid-70s on Friday and low 80s on Saturday and Sunday.

Pacific Coast: Friday should see warmth reach all the way to the coast thanks to the offshore flow. Highs should top out in the upper 60s to around 70 degrees in Half Moon Bay and Pacifica. Saturday will likely be the warmest day, with temperatures hitting the low 70s before an afternoon sea breeze develops. Sunday should feature similar temperatures in the low 70s with a cooling sea breeze developing late.

Peninsula: Friday should warm up nicely across the Peninsula, with highs reaching the mid- to upper 70s in San Mateo and Redwood City. Saturday and Sunday look warm as temperatures should jump into the upper 70s in South San Francisco and SFO, and into the low to mid-80s further south along the Peninsula.

South Bay: The South Bay looks like the warmest part of the Bay Area this weekend, especially by Saturday. After widespread temperatures in the mid- to upper 70s on Friday, temperatures in San Jose, Morgan Hill and Gilroy should easily climb into the mid-80s on Saturday and again on Sunday.

This article originally published at San Francisco could hit 80 degrees again as warmth surges back.