Hazy, Gray Saturday

Air Quality (as of 12AM)
GOOD to MODERATE for most areas

WEATHER STORY
Another trough of low pressure will dive down into the Pacific Northwest as we head into the weekend, keeping the overall air mass over California a bit cool for this time of year. A northerly component to the flow will keep some smoke over our area on Saturday. The flow becomes more progressive out of the weekend and high pressure will edge back in from the west yielding warmer inland temperatures and pushing the smoke out of the region. At the coast, a stable marine layer will mean a persistent forecast of low clouds and highs that are slightly cool for this time of year.

Overnight: Low clouds will fill back in around the coast and inland valleys. Patchy fog and drizzle possible for many locations. You can expect some degradation of air quality due to smoke in the region, but it shouldn’t be too bad. Lows will be in the 50s for most areas.

Saturday: Widespread low clouds overnight and into the morning with drizzle possible. Skies will break to mostly sunny inland, but will likely remain partly cloudy on the coast. Smoky conditions will continue but will thin further. Temperatures will drop a couple of degrees. Overall, expect coastal highs in the mid 60s to low 70s with mainly 70s to low 80s inland. Winds pick up on the coast and inland valleys during the afternoon and evening.

Sunday: Skies will break to mostly sunny inland. Along the coast, the gray conditions will start to break, but a few broken low clouds will stick around. Smoky conditions will ease and by the late afternoon, the haze will have moved out. Expect coastal highs in the mid 60s to low 70s with mainly 70s-80s inland. Winds pick up on the coast and inland valleys during the afternoon and evening.

Extended: Smoke will slowly clear out. Coastal areas will remain in a persistent pattern of low clouds on the coast and seasonable to slightly cool highs. Inland locations will slowly warm through the weekend, but will likely remain below normal through Monday. By midweek temperatures, both inland and along the coast will gradually warm with more sunshine in the picture as a ridge of high-pressure nudges westward. Come Thursday and Friday, inland areas could once again see 90s and 100s.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 55ºF
HIGH: 71ºF
 
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 86ºF

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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for August 27^th –  September 2^nd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal precipitation*. 
*Note: little to no precipitation usually falls this time of year.
-El Niño/La Niña STATUS: Neutral
-Forecast into Winter: La Niña Watch

-Area drought status: “Extreme Drought” for the entire viewing area with the far southeastern corner of Monterey County and far eastern San Benito County considered “Exceptional Drought” Video / Weather Authority