More Rain on the Way

After a break on Wednesday, the weather pattern becomes more active with rain chances for the next four days.

AIR QUALITY: Good

**HIGH SURF ADVISORY**
..for the immediate coast of Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties from 10AM Thursday until 4PM Sunday.

*Large breaking waves of 20 to 30 feet.

*Dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and localized beach 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.

Inexperienced swimmers should remain out of the water due to dangerous surf conditions.

Thursday: Partly to mostly cloudy with a few light showers possible, mainly along the coast. Highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Clouds increase further late.

Overnight: Light to moderate rain, especially in the coastal mountains. Lows in the 40s-50s.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with rain in the morning, tapering off into the afternoon. Breezy southwesterly winds at times, especially early. Highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Extended: A weak system brushes by on Saturday with a weak cold front actually moving through on Sunday. Sunday will have some wind and light rain. Saturday will only see a chance of rain and mainly on the coast. Dryer weather returns out of 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

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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]