Watching The Tropics Again!?
Temperatures will slowly climb upward into the weekend as high pressure builds back in from the east. Thursday will be somewhat of a transition day as the marine layer will stabilize making persistent coastal clouds more likely. A turn to more northwesterly flow will keep them (the clouds) on the south/east sides of the bay. Clouds will thin and temperatures warm on Friday and Saturday as the ridge settles in. Highs will be close to normal Friday and above by Saturday. The ridge will also direct some mid to high level moisture associated with what is now Hurricane Jova toward us this weekend as well. The clouds will arrive in the south as early as Friday evening. Some models are showing a little precipitation in our area Saturday afternoon, though I haven’t quite bought this scenario just yet. The ridge will then block any precip chances Sunday and Monday, but as the faltering cyclone spins well off to our southwest on Tuesday, there appears to be one more chance of some of the moisture reaching the Central Coast. The forecast will be an interesting puzzle in the coming days, so please stay tuned!
AIR QUALITY: Good
Overnight: Low clouds slow to return, but will eventually fill the bay and nearby valleys by dawn. Expect lows in the 50s on the coast and major valleys with a few 40s in the higher valleys.
Thursday: Returning to a “cloudier on the south side of the bay” scenario with afternoon skies ending up partly cloudy on the coast and mostly sunny inland. Slightly warmer with coastal highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and low 70s to around 92ºF inland. Breezy northwesterly onshore winds becoming windy for inland valleys late in the day.
Friday: Becoming mostly sunny with only a few low clouds on the south side of the bay. Warmer, with coastal highs in the mid 60s to upper 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid 70s to around 95ºF inland. Breezy northwesterly onshore winds becoming windy for inland valleys late in the day. High clouds drift in from the south late.
Extended: We’ll be monitoring some tropical moisture on Saturday, otherwise expect scattered high clouds and warm temperatures. Highs will be mainly in the 70s to low 80s on the coast and widespread 80s-90s and perhaps even a few low 100s inland. Temps will hold fairly steady Sunday then slowly decrease into next week. Watching another potential pulse of tropical moisture on Tuesday.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 54ºF
HIGH: 70ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 85ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for September 14th – 20th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation. Note: Little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year.
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory
- Forecast: Moderate to strong El Niño expected this winter.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free
