With dry, desiccating offshore winds developing in the San Francisco Bay Area during a severe early-autumn heat wave, officials warned Friday that the risk of wildfire sparks and spread is high. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning just before 11 a.

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management is urging residents to take precautions for their health and safety amid a blistering fall heat wave, while many residents hit Ocean Beach, one of the six public-library branches serving as cooling centers, or any of the pools the Recreation and Park Department opened to the public this week.

The end of this early autumn San Francisco Bay Area heat wave keeps getting pushed back. When the scorching weather first arrived Monday, forecasts indicated temperatures would drop by the end of the week, but the latest forecast shows Saturday and Sunday will still be hot, especially across inland areas, with widespread temperatures in the 90s.