Back To Stratus Quo

No heat alerts, no lightning threat. We head into the work week on the quiet side, which I’m sure most are grateful for. High pressure remains well to our east, over the Four Corners while a weak upper level low sits offshore. The low drew in dryer air Sunday, ending the dry lightning threat. Now, it will sit offshore for the next several days keeping our marine layer deep and low clouds a big part of the coastal forecast—through Wednesday at least.

AIR QUALITY: Good 

Overnight: Low clouds for the coast and major inland valleys. Patchy fog inland and in the coastal hills. Drizzle possible around the bay. Expect lows in the 50s.

Monday: Low clouds clear back to the coast but remain patchy throughout the day. A touch warmer with coastal highs in the mid 60s to low 70s and mid 70s to mid 80s for lower inland valleys and mid 80s to around 102ºF in higher valleys. Breezy westerly onshore winds becoming wind up valleys late in the day.

Tuesday: Very similar to Monday with perhaps slightly more persistent coastal clouds. Coastal highs in the low 60s to low 70s and mid 70s to mid 80s for lower inland valleys and mid 80s to around 101ºF in higher valleys. Breezy westerly onshore winds becoming wind up valleys late in the day.

Extended: Persistent weather will continue into Wednesday—at least at the coast. High pressure eases back in from the east which will begin to warm inland areas. Some coastal warming expected Thursday/Friday with highs 5-10ºF above normal for most areas. Temps level out into the weekend.

*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: 54ºF
HIGH: 68ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 85ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for July 22^nd – 28^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal* precipitation.
*Note: little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña by late summer.
- Area drought status: Currently drought-free
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature* as of July 14^th: 57.5ºF
(Historic June AVG: 58.4ºF) -- *average of three buoys