What causes heat waves?

Question

it is sooo hottt in san francisco, ca now. wondering what caused the heat wave?

Answer 1

uh i live in california too its super hot. i honestly dont kno. but it sucks

Answer 2

uh....heat!

Answer 3

the sun

Answer 4

The situation that most often occurs resulting in heat waves is a strong mid level high pressure area that moves very little.  Sinking air in this mid level high pressure area creates an inversion, which effectively prevents the lower atmosphere from mixing as it is heated.  As a result, the low level air is heated more than it would otherwise if it could mix through a deeper layer, bringing cooler air downward.  Think of it like this.  If you put 1 gallon of water in a pan and set it on a burner for 5 minutes, you will heat that water to some degree.  Now take 1 cup of water, put it in the same pan and heat it for 5 minutes, that water will be hotter than the gallon.

Answer 5

High pressure area is one of the causes of heat waves. Typically when a region has high-pressure, the sky would clear and cloudless, and the sun would be beaming at you directly.

Wikipedia explains heat waves more eloquently than I do.

"In the summer in warm climates, if there is an area of pressure with little or no rain and clouds, there is nothing to protect the air and ground from being heated excessively. When large high pressure air is trapped, the ground and air will continue to heat and the heat wave will last longer."

Answer 6

The sun heats the road and the heat rises and forms heat wave.

Answer 7

i dont know exactly about heat waves but i'll tell what i know.

sometimes warm air masses enter a region from a hot place causing a warm front.  The planetary winds help transfer the air mass, in our case, northeast.  Eventually if i am right, the heat wave would pass and soon hit those that are in it's path.