April Showers & Storms
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) – Unsettled weather will continue Tuesday as an area of low pressure passes by to our north. Small disturbances will rotate around the low and help spawn showers and perhaps a few thunderstorms into the day Tuesday. Expect several rounds of showers & storms throughout the day. Some areas will get multiple rounds while others may get skipped completely--that's the nature of these smaller scale systems. Temperatures will drop into the 50s with 40s in the hills and snow levels down to around 3,500ft. The low will move on starting Wednesday, though some residual showers will be possible over the inland mountains.
Air Quality: Good
Tuesday: Partly cloudy to mostly cloudy with rounds of showers with embedded thunderstorms possible. Cool with gusty west-northwesterly winds. Highs in the 50s with 40s up in the hills.
Overnight: Showers will taper off throughout the night, with lingering showers by morning. Thunderstorm chances will decrease after sunset. Light snow showers possible in the higher peaks. Winds out of the northwest will ease, still remain breezy with occasionally stronger gusts. Lows will be cool, mostly 40s, 30s for higher elevations and interior valleys. Patchy fog possible by sunrise.
Wednesday: Becoming partly cloudy. Isolated showers over the inland mountains during the afternoon. Can't rule out a few sprinkles elsewhere. Warmer, but still cool and definitely still windy! Highs in the 50s to low 60s.
Extended: Some models continue to show a few lingering showers on Thursday, but they'll be isolated at best. High pressure begins to build in and while Thursday will still be seasonably cool and windy, by Friday, highs head above normal and stay that way through the weekend. Temperatures are likely to peak on Sunday, 5-15ºF above normal for most areas.
*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: 46ºF
HIGH: 64ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 69ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for April 7th – 13th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near 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 31st: 54.8ºF (avg. of 7 buoys)
[Historic March Avg. SST: 55.3ºF]
