Beware the Winds of March
High pressure will settle in to our southwest over the coming days allowing for the storm track to dip a bit farther south. The first system we’ll see impacts from is actually already moving south through the Rockies. We’ll catch the far western end of its cold front on Thursday. Onshore winds will pick up ahead of the front on Wednesday, cooling us and perhaps pushing some low cloudcover and a couple sprinkles into our northwest-facing hills. Dry offshore winds follow the front on Thursday, clearing us out. Temperatures will warm a bit into the weekend before the next system arrives on Saturday. And by arrive, I mean, we’ll catch the far southern end of it which should only amount to a few extra clouds and a brief cooldown. Another similar system will be here on Monday night. This one, however, may dip a bit farther south which could end up with us actually seeing some light rain. Stay tuned!
Air Quality: GOOD
Overnight: Mostly clear skies—can’t rule out a few thin, high clouds. Cool, with lows in the upper 30s to mid 40s on the coast and upper 20s to 30s inland. Breezy at times over the hills.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with a few high clouds passing through. Stronger onshore flow will be gusty at times during the afternoon. Cooler, with highs mainly in the upper 50s to mid 60s on the coast and 60s to low 70s inland. Some low cloudcover and a few drizzly spots on northwest-facing slopes.
Thursday: Clearing skies with gusty northerly winds at times, especially in the hills. Slightly warmer on the coast with highs in the 60s, slightly cooler inland with highs mainly in the 60s.
Extended: Expect calmer conditions on Friday, though it may still be breezy at times over the hills and elsewhere inland. Cold in the morning, then mild in the afternoon. Temps will warm a bit on Saturday, though clouds will be on the increase as a system passes by to our north. Expect mostly seasonable temperatures Sunday with rain chances returning on Monday.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 45ºF
HIGH: 63ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 67ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 16th – 22nd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation.
- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast into Winter: Weak La Niña
-Area drought status: “Severe Drought” for most of the viewing area southern Monterey County now reduced to “Moderate Drought”
