A Summer-like Day
High pressure will max out over the region on Wednesday with highs averaging about 10ºF above normal. The sea breeze will kick in at the coast during the afternoon and keep temperatures comfortable, but inland areas are destined for the upper 70s to mid-80s. The ridge begins to move to the east on Thursday which will shift the gradient enough for a deeper, earlier onshore flow. Coastal areas will cool quite a bit Thursday while some inland areas in the south may peak out their hottest temps of the week! All of us will cool on Friday as the next storm system approaches from the west. Some models are bringing light rain on Friday evening, but most of us will see a good period of moderate rain early on Saturday along with gusty southerly winds. This is another cold storm system, so snow levels will dip down below the mountaintops—not as low as the previous storm—but still low for April! There's also a slight chance of an isolated thunderstorm. See the extended section below for more…
AIR QUALITY: Good
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with some high clouds passing through. Warmer yet with coastal highs in the upper 60s to mid 70s and widespread 70s to mid 80s inland. Breezy northwesterly onshore and up valley winds in the afternoon and early evening.
Overnight: Partly cloudy to mostly clear skies, with patchy fog possible by morning. Lows will be warmer with mainly 40s to low 50s. Winds will remain light.
Thursday: Mostly sunny with passing high clouds and some low cloud cover on the coast, especially late. Cooler for coastal cities with highs in the 60s to low 70s, but still warm inland—especially in the south—with highs in the 70s-80s. Northwesterly onshore and up valley wind will be stronger in the afternoon and early evening.
Extended: Clouds increase Friday with a storm system moving in. Highs return to seasonal normal. A few showers may pop up late, but the bulk of the rain will hold off until Saturday morning when we should get a good band of moderate rain moving through accompanied by gusty southerly winds. Showers will follow into Sunday and there may be a slight chance of a thunderstorm with small hail over the hills in the afternoon. Temps cool into the upper 50s to mid 60s for the weekend, then slowly climb out of it.
*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: 46ºF
HIGH: 64ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 42ºF
HIGH: 70ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for April 17th – 23rd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW 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
