Pleasant Monday with a Few More Clouds

Expect a dry start to the work week, but stormy conditions return by the end of the week.
High pressure is currently in control, blocking storm systems to our west and keeping our weather, for the most part, seasonable.  The biggest hazard in the near term will be patchy valley fog. One weather system will breach the ridge and arrive on our shores as it begins to dissipate. But it should be enough to provide us some light rain late Wednesday into early Thursday. This will open the door for more storm systems, though, and the first to arrive this weekend will have rain and wind, potentially followed by additional systems into next week. Saturated grounds will make flooding more likely and there is some potential for heavy rain. Stay tuned to the forecast.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Monday: Mostly sunny with a few high clouds, a few low clouds on the coast, and a few clouds over the hills. Seasonable highs with mainly low 60s. Breezy near the river mouths in the afternoon.

Overnight: Low clouds will fill the majority of the bay, eventually pushing into nearby valleys. Expect foggy conditions. High clouds will also be in the mix by morning. Far interior valleys could still see some areas of frost. Lows will be in the 40s at the coast, 30s and 40s inland.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy with a mix of low and high clouds. Slightly cooler with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Extended: Early Valentine’s Day will be dry, but rain will be possible late and may extend into Thursday morning. We’ll have a dry, seasonable day on Friday, but wind & rain for the weekend … and beyond?
 
*Note: Any alerts from the National Weather Service in Monterey will be noted in italics above. Alerts may be edited for brevity or local clarification (in parenthesis) 

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 44ºF
HIGH: 61ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 39ºF
HIGH: 63ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for February 19^th – 25^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory
- ENSO Forecast: Strong to Very Strong El Niño expected this winter.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free