Taste of Summer

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) – Temps will be on the rise for the second half of the weekend and will feel more like summer as we head into early next week. Peak heat days will be Monday and Tuesday with high temps 10-20 degrees above normal. A ridge of high pressure continues to build and will bring this very warm air mass into the region. This will lead to sunny, very warm and dry conditions. Enjoy, because temps will cool back down by next weekend with rain chances.

Air Quality: Good

**Beach Hazards Statement** for all of the Central Coast coastline and beaches.

*From 8 am Sunday morning through 11 pm Tuesday evening.

*Due to increased risk of sneaker waves and rip currents.

Sneaker waves can run farther up the beaches, including over rocks and jetties. These large waves can catch people by surprise and knock beach goers off their feet and quickly pull them into the cold water, where currents will be stronger then normal. People are asked to stay out of the water.

Overnight: Clear inland and partly to mostly cloudy at coast with patchy fog. Lows milder in the mid 40s to 50 degrees. Breezy.

Sunday: AM clouds and fog then becoming mostly sunny with temps at at coast in the low to mid 60s and into mid to upper 70s inland. Beach hazards with sneaker waves and rip currents. Mild lows in the 50s.

Monday: Sunny and very warm with coastal highs in the mid to upper 70s and mid to upper 80s areas inland. Beach hazards with sneaker waves and rip currents.

Extended: As the ridge slowly builds in, highs soar above average for Monday and Tuesday and could be as much as 20ºF above normal! We may get close to breaking a couple records. Pattern changes and unsettled weather by Wednesday and lasting into the weekend with cooler weather.

*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.

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

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 68ºF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 27^th – April 2^nd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- ENSO Forecast: Neutral conditions expected by April and then to persist into summer.
- Area drought status: Moderate drought for far southeastern Monterey County. Abnormally dry for southeastern Monterey County and eastern San Benito County. Drought-free for the remainder of the KION coverage area.
 Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of March 20^th: 54.2ºF (avg of 8 buoys)
[Historic March Avg. SST: 55.3ºF]