The National Weather Service says though hot temperatures will stick around throughout the weekend, there is some relief coming to the coastal areas.

But the weather service still has an excessive heat warning for the Santa Clara Valley and a heat advisory for the inland areas through Friday afternoon.

Thursday's soaring temperatures set heat records throughout the Bay Area.

The weather service says it hit 98 degrees in Oakland, breaking the previous record of 87 degrees for the day set in 1976.

San Francisco's high of 97 degrees and San Jose's high of 99 degrees were also records for the day.

Bay Area commuters found public transit slower than usual in the Thursday heat. Some Caltrain riders reported trains were running slower than usual during the evening commute. A spokesman explained that trains can usually run up to 79 mph, but were kept under 60 mph until temperatures dropped below 95 degrees for two hours. Otherwise, there is additional stress on the tracks.

Heat caused delays on the BART system, starting at 12:00 p.m. Thursday, lasting for some 8 hours. "We did experience delays of up to 45 minutes at times throughout the day because of the heat," acknowledged BART chief spokesman Linton Johnson. "Nothing we can do as we use our aging equipment, equipment that we are trying to replace but with the governor's latest budget cuts he is now cutting another $9 million as of today, he's proposing to cut another $9 million from our budget."

Despite Friday's hot forecast and Spare the Air declaration, there is no free transit being offered for Bay Area commuters.