Slightly Cooler But Pleasant
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) – Temperatures will cool down slightly on Thursday but remain warm for this time of year. The ridge of high pressure that brought above-normal temperatures begins to shift to the east. With that, cooler temperatures aloft along with deeper and stronger onshore flow will affect a cooling trend into the weekend. The deeper onshore flow will be more notable on Friday and Saturday with winds becoming gusty and the deeper marine layer penetrating inland valleys. A passing dry, cold front to our north could bring some light drizzle to the area early Friday morning, but don't expect any notable rain showers.
Air Quality: Good
Thursday: Patchy low clouds around the coast and nearby valleys, but mostly sunny inland with a few high clouds passing through. Clouds will increase later. Breezy northwesterly onshore winds becoming stronger up valleys late in the day. Slightly cooler with coastal highs in the low 60s to mid-70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid-70s to mid-80s inland.
Overnight: Partly to mostly cloudy, with mild lows in the upper 40s to low 50s. Some light drizzle possible along the coast and for coastal mountains. Winds will be light, breezy at times. Fog will be limited, but possible in low-lying, damp areas.
Friday: Passing high clouds with a some low clouds on the coast. Cooler, with coastal highs in the upper 50s to low 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and low 70s to low 80s inland. Gusty northwesterly onshore and up-valley winds at times, especially late in the day.
Extended: The cooling trend will continue into Saturday with seasonable to slightly cool highs expected. Low clouds may thicken along the coast with gusty northwesterly onshore winds. The trough responsible for the cooler weather will move on with a short-ridge quickly replacing it. A shift to light offshore flow will allow quick warming on Sunday/Monday with highs returning to well-above-normal levels. Beyond that, well, it’s a bit of a mystery ... there are a lot of moving parts.
*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: 42ºF
HIGH: 70ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for April 17th – 23rd 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: Abnormally dry for far 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 7th: 56.4ºF (avg. of 7 buoys) [Historic April Avg. SST: 55.1ºF]
