A week after some Bay Area residents fought cabin fever by flocking to beaches and parks — leading authorities to restrict access to many popular areas in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus — rainy weather will likely ensure we don’t see a repeat of those scenes this weekend.
Light but steady rain began falling in the Bay Area early Saturday morning, and is expected to continue through Sunday.
“It’s ‘stay inside’ weather,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun said.
That’s exactly what public health officials want to hear.
Many were alarmed at the sight of crowded beaches, hiking trails and other outdoor spaces during nice spring weather last weekend and warned that there were so many visitors it would be impossible to maintain the physical distance needed to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.
Since then, Marin and San Mateo counties have shut down parks and other public spaces, while the parking lots at dozens of popular parks and beaches have also been closed in an attempt to limit visitors.
It’s hard to imagine people will want to crowd those spaces this weekend.
The Bay Area isn’t getting a ton of rain — only about a tenth to a quarter of an inch in the region’s valleys, and a quarter to a half an inch in the hills — but it’ll be steady enough to make most outdoor plans unappealing.
Walbrun said rain showers are forecast to continue off and on throughout Saturday, with a possible lull at night. They’ll pick up again Sunday morning and continue through midday, before easing up as the weather turns partly cloudy in the afternoon when highs will be in the low- to mid-60s.
The temptation to spend time outdoors will soon ramp up, though, as Walbrun said forecasts show sunny and warm spring weather returning during the workweek when daily highs are likely to reach the 70s.
Hiking and other forms of outdoor exercise are among the “essential” functions people can leave their homes to perform during the Bay Area’s shelter in place order.
Even if a public area looks popular, the risk of catching or passing on the virus in outdoor spaces is likely very low so long as people can stay at least six feet apart from one another, said Catherine Troisi, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center. Troisi said that’s because the wind can disperse droplets that might contain the virus, while UV rays in sunlight kill it.
Still, public health officials have been urging people to limit exercise to their immediate neighborhoods to prevent any potential spread of the virus from one community to another.
And of course, Troisi said, if a beach, trail or parking lot gets too crowded, staying far enough apart from one another becomes impossible.
“If you can maintain that distance, you’re fine,” Troisi said, “it’s simply how many other people have that same idea — and how big the beach is.”
