Watching The Late Week System

Here’s a look at your forecast for Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, and southern Santa Clara Counties!

A cold upper-level low will continue to enforce a cool, unsettled pattern for the Central Coast. Isolated showers will remain in the forecast through Wednesday along with cool temperatures and breezy conditions. The pattern will then shift for the end of the week as a plume of warmer, moist air is directed at the California Coast. A storm system to our north will tap into this moisture which will likely mean moderate to heavy rain for our area late Thursday into Friday. We’ll remain in the warmer, moist air mass through the weekend with additional heavy rain chances coming over the next week or two. There will be an increased risk of flooding, so please stay tuned to the forecast.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Overnight: Scattered showers early, then becoming mostly clear with isolated showers possible. Snow levels down to 2,500ft. Chilly, with lows in the 30s for most areas.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy with an isolated shower possible. Cool & breezy with highs in the 50s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy early in the day with scattered showers, then becoming mostly sunny. Cool & breezy with highs in the 50s.

Extended: Temperatures will begin to warm up Thursday but clouds and winds will be on the increase. Rain is likely late and will last into Friday when it could be heavy at times. Showers then linger into Saturday. Both lows and highs return to normal or perhaps even above! Additional rain chances likely next week.

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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 14^th – 20^th calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.

- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast: Transition to neutral with possible El Niño developing this summer
-Area drought status: Moderate Drought (D1) for the northern Santa Cruz Mountains, San Benito County, southeastern Monterey County and southern Santa Clara County Abnormally dry (D0) for the rest of Monterey & Santa Cruz Counties.