Some Warmth To Look Forward To
The weather pattern will remain fairly quiet for the next week or two. High pressure generally dominates the West Coast with weak systems passing by to the north and south. We’ll remain in weak northwest flow through Monday with a slightly cool air mass in place. It will be more noticeable at night with lows running around 7ºF below normal. Highs will be closer to normal, but still cool for this time of year. A weak system will pass by on Tuesday which will bring clouds and maybe a few sprinkles. Then the ridge builds back in with warmer, more seasonable weather through Friday. Another weak system will then pass by with an uptick in clouds and maybe a few sprinkles before things level off for the holiday next weekend.
AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate
Overnight: Mostly clear. Fog possible for eastern San Benito County Valleys, up at Pacheco Pass and southern Monterey County valleys. Patchy fog possible in other low, sheltered areas like the lowlands between Hollister and Gilroy. Cool, with lows in the 30s to low 40s on the coast (with patchy frost) and mid 20s to mid 30s inland (and widespread frost)
Monday: Mostly sunny to start with increasing high clouds throughout the day. Cooler, with highs mainly in the 50s. Slightly breezy for inland valleys in the afternoon.
Tuesday: A weather system will pass by into Tuesday with increased clouds and maybe a few sprinkles. Highs stay in the 50s.
Extended: The warming trend will continue more or less through the end of the week under mostly sunny skies. We’ll get a bit of a speed bump on Thursday with increase clouds and perhaps another chance of sprinkles into Friday. Then, coastal areas will likely see above normal highs into the weekend while inland areas remain seasonable. At this time, Christmas weekend looks mostly sunny and seasonable to slightly warm.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 43ºF
HIGH: 61ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 26th – January 1st calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.
- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast: Weak La Niña continues through winter, becomes neutral by Spring
-Area drought status: “Severe Drought” for most of the viewing area with “Extreme Drought” in southern San Benito and southeastern Monterey Counties. The southeastern third of San Benito County has been upgraded to “Exceptional Drought”
