Did Someone Order The Rain? (It’s Here)
An atmospheric river will remained aimed at our area through the rest of the day with moderate to heavy rain likely along with flooding of poorly drained areas and roadways. Rain will end from north to south this evening with dry weather expected on Wednesday. Then, several more systems will follow throughout the week--Thursday, Friday, and then on Saturday. Storm totals are likely to be very impressive by the time we get to January 1st. Obviously there are a lot details to these individual storms that will be resolved in the coming days, so stay tuned to my forecast!
AIR QUALITY: Good
**HIGH SURF ADVISORY**
… in effect from 9AM Tuesday to 9AM Wednesday for the immediate coast of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties (A Beach Hazards Statement precedes the advisory)
*For the Beach Hazards Statement, surf height of 12 to 17 feet expected. For the High Surf Advisory, large breaking waves of 20 to 25 expected.
*Dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and localized beach erosion. Large shorebreak. Farther than normal wave runup. Some beaches will be inundated at high tide. Rounding or climbing over rock outcroppings will be extremely dangerous. Fishing off rock walls or jetties may wash you out to sea.
*The ocean is an unrelenting environment with little to no chance of rescue. Respect this force of nature and remain well away from hazardous ocean conditions.
Inexperienced swimmers should remain out of the water due to dangerous surf conditions.
Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions.
Tuesday: Moderate to heavy rain ending from north to south. Light showers linger. Minor flooding issues persist. Temperatures in the 50s.
Overnight: Partly cloudy with patchy fog. Cooler, with lows in the 40s for most areas, upper 30s in some higher valleys.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy, cool, and breezy with highs in the 50s.
Extended: Rain returns Thursday morning as a weak system enters the area. Another system follows on Friday and a stronger system on Saturday. All the while, expect seasonable to slightly cool high temperatures. It’s looking like dry conditions for January 1st, but more rain is possible by the 2nd-3rd.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 42ºF
HIGH: 60ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 61ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for January 3rd – 9th calls for the likelihood of near normal temperatures and ABOVE 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”
