Rain Chances Increasing

Well, it won’t feel much like May for the first week of May. A cold weather system will continue to dig down the coast through mid-week with cool, blustery, and showery conditions. Showers will become more widespread into Tuesday with embedded thunderstorms possible over the inland hills Tuesday afternoon.. The low will then weaken and slide past us with additional showers possible Wednesday and even Thursday for some areas. All the while, expect much cooler than normal temperatures. Some warming is then expected into the weekend.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Overnight: Mostly cloudy with rounds of light to moderate showers. Snow levels drop to about 4,000 ft. Breezy at times.

Tuesday: Showers early, then becoming partly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms possible mainly over the inland mountains. Winds become more southerly and will be gusty at times. Highs in the 50s to low 60s. Thunderstorms may also have small hail and brief downpours/gusty winds. Showery weather then returns to the coast late.

Wednesday: Rain is likely to continue on the coast Wednesday—especially along the Big Sur Coast and Santa Lucia Range with showers elsewhere. The lighter, offshore flow around the may allow for some coastal warming with highs sneaking back into the 60s

Extended: The low will then move to our south on Thursday with a few showers persisting mainly over the hills Thursday and maybe even Friday.  Beyond that, we’ll see a more tranquil weather pattern into the weekend with a slow warming trend both on the coast and inland.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 47ºF
HIGH: 65ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 44ºF
HIGH: 72ºF

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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for May 9^th – 15^th calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: El Niño Watch
- Forecast: Neutral through the end of spring with El Niño developing this summer.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free