Much Cooler Weather, Weekend Rain Chances
Air Quality Report (As of 7:30am)
Good to moderate for all reporting areas.
Weather Story:
Flow will gradually become more onshore—commencing a pattern change which will allow weather systems to once again deal us glancing blows from the north. With the return of onshore flow, temperatures will return closer to normal for the rest of the week and we’ll start to see the potential for rain once again—however, chances will remain fairly low.
Thursday: A few high clouds passing through with scattered low clouds on the coast. Cooler, with highs mainly in the upper 50s to 60s on the coast and 60s inland. Becoming breezy in the afternoon and into the evening.
Overnight: A few low and high cloud possible. Widespread fog not expected. Expect coastal lows in the upper 30s to 40s with upper 20s to 30s inland.
Friday: Partly cloudy and chilly with breezy conditions. Highs in the 50s on the coast to low 60s inland. Slight chance for evening drizzle for northern locations.
Extended: A weather system impacting northern California on Saturday may push just south enough to push some light rain into Santa Cruz/Santa Clara Counties. Otherwise, most areas will be partly cloudy and a bit warmer with highs in the 60s. Perhaps a better chance of rain will occur on Sunday as a weak cold front moves into the region. Again, this is only a light rain maker and many inland areas are likely to remain dry. The pattern will remain somewhat unsettled next week with partly cloudy skies and seasonable temperatures. Weather systems will continue to pass by to our north and could stray just far enough south to give us a few drops from time to time.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 42ºF
HIGH: 60ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 35ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 17th – 23rd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation.
-El Niño/La Niña STATUS: Weak La Niña
-Forecast into Winter: La Niña Advisory
-Area drought status: Moderate drought for much of Santa Cruz & Santa Clara Counties and the far eastern side of San Benito County, Abnormally dry for all other areas.