Cooling Off
It’s either warm or hot depending on where you live! A few communities will be near record warmth Wednesday but cooler air on the way. A passing system in the Pacific Northwest/Northern Rockies has shifted surface winds to the north over much of Northern California. This dry, northerly flow is generally offshore for our area, pushing the warm, continental air mass all the way to the coast. We may approach record highs in our two reporting climate sites (Salinas/87ºF, King City/103ºF). Fire danger will be elevated because of the dry air and smoke will likely drift in from the north making for moderate air quality. The warmer weather won’t last forever, however, as a new trough will dig down the coast for the remainder of the week and into the weekend. Temperatures will likely be below normal by Thursday/Friday for most areas and it’s possible we may see some coastal drizzle Friday & Saturday mornings. We’ll then warm slightly through Labor Day as a ridge to our southwest strengthens.
AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate
Overnight: Skies will remain clear for most of the night, but low clouds will start to develop after midnight. Partly to mostly cloudy conditions are expected by morning near the coast and parts of the Salinas Valley. Lows will be a bit warmer, 50s to low 60s. Mountainous locations in the 70s.
Thursday: Cooler with lingering low clouds on the coast. Highs in the 60s to 70s for coastal cities, 70s to low 90s inland. Breezy northwesterly onshore winds on the exposed coast becoming stronger for the valleys late in the day.
Friday: Patchy am fog and clouds/drizzle possible than gradual clearing with afternoon sunshine again. Winds will shift and bring cooler air into the central coast. Some areas will be 10-15 degrees cooler.
Extended: Friday and Saturday will remain slightly cool with partly cloudy skies and possible morning drizzle. We’ll warm back up a bit into Labor Day.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 55ºF
HIGH: 70ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 86ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for September 6th – 12th calls for the likelihood of near normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. Note: Little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year.
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory
- Forecast: Moderate to strong El Niño expected this winter.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free
