Abundant Sunshine!

More sunshine and mild temps to kick off the weekend. Highs will be above average again Friday with many areas possibly reaching 70 degrees again! Winds will slowly ease on Friday afternoon with mainly clear skies. While the region will be sunny and warm overall through the Saint Patrick’s Day weekend, we could see a few low clouds along the coast with slightly cooler daytime high temperatures Saturday and Sunday. Staying dry and even warmer for the start of next week as we welcome the official start to Spring with highs possibly in the mid to upper 70s for several spots.

AIR QUALITY: Good

**WIND ADVISORY**
…for the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Diablo Range in Santa Clara County in effect from 5PM Wednesday until 11AM Friday

*North to Northeast winds 20 to 35 mph with gusts up to 50 mph expected..

Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
 
Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.

Overnight: Clear and a bit milder with lows in the low to upper 40s with some gusty winds for the hills and mts. but otherwise calmer. Inland valley areas may dip into the upper 30s.

Friday: Sunny and mild with daytime temps in the mid to upper 60s and into the low 70s.

Saturday: Staying quiet and pleasant with sunshine and slightly cooler with highs mainly in the mid to upper 60s.
Extended: Temperatures jump up above normal next week with a stretch of dry weather. The long term forecast is still looking pretty dry. Tuesday will be the warmest and it's also the first day of spring.

*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).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 45ºF
HIGH: 63ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 67ºF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 20^th – 26^th calls for the likelihood of near normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory, La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition from El Niño to neutral by Spring and then to La Niña by summer.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free