Warm Up Begins Friday

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) – Expect a big warmup into the weekend! High pressure officially takes over on the California Coast Friday. After a chilly morning, highs return to normal Friday and then above for Saturday & Sunday. A weak system will slide by early Monday morning, however—more in the extended forecast below.  
 
Air Quality: Good 
 
 Friday: Sunny with just a few high clouds and a few flat cumulus over the hills in the afternoon. Patchy low clouds will dance around the peninsula throughout the day. Warmer, with coastal highs in the low to upper 60s and upper 60s to mid-70s inland. Breezy up valleys in the afternoon.  

Overnight: Patchy low clouds near the coast, with increasing thin high clouds joining the mix. Lows will be slightly warmer, mostly 40s, 30s for far interior valleys. Winds calm.
 
Saturday: Mostly sunny with a few high clouds passing through. Warmer yet with coastal highs in the 60s to around 70ºF and widespread 70s for inland valleys. Breezy up valleys in the afternoon.  
 
Extended: Temperatures flatten on Sunday as high clouds increase from the west due to an approaching weather system. Some low clouds will be possible late. Then, a weak cold front will pass through early on Monday and could bring a few sprinkles. In its wake, we’ll cool slightly but remain seasonable. High pressure builds back in through mid-week but we’ll remain in northwest flow which could be windy at times on the coast.  

*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 11th – 17th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW 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 April 4th: 54.7ºF (avg. of 7 buoys) 
[Historic March Avg. SST: 55.1ºF]