Weather Takes A Holiday

Dry, tranquil weather returns for Christmas Day. Unsettled weather won’t stay away too long, however, as the next rain chance arrives on Thursday.

AIR QUALITY: Good

**HIGH SURF ADVISORY**
…for the immediate coast of Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties including Monterey Bay through 6PM Wednesday

*Large breaking waves of 15 to 22 ft at a period of 14 to 18 seconds.
 
*Hazardous swimming and surfing conditions and significant shoreline erosion can be expected. Large waves can sweep across the beach without warning, pulling people into the sea from rocks, jetties and beaches. Sudden immersion in cold water can result in cold water shock even for the most experienced swimmers. Cold water shock can result in dramatic changes in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, greatly increasing the risk of drowning in rough open waters.
 
Stay out of the water and away from the beach due to life-threatening surf conditions. Stay off of jetties, piers, and other waterside infrastructure.


Wednesday (Christmas Day): Morning fog for the valleys with mostly clear skies. Cool, with highs in the 50s to around 60ºF. Increasing clouds late.

Extended: A series of weak systems will impact our area from Thursday through Sunday. At the moment, it appears all will only bring light rain and occasionally elevated winds. There will be gaps between any rain events, but models are all over the place with timing at the moment. For now, just anticipate a chance of rain every day through Sunday.

*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

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 59ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 36ºF
HIGH: 60ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for January 1^st - 7^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña into the fall and persist through the winter months.
- Area drought status: Abnormally dry for San Benito County, northeastern Monterey County and eastern Santa Clara County. Drought-free elsewhere
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of December 23^rd  : 55.7ºF (avg of 7 buoys) [December Average: 55.0ºF]