Saturday Clouds, Drizzle

Clouds and drizzle around for the start of the weekend. A system to our northwest will barely brush our area into Saturday morning as a weak cold front dissipates right on our shores. This will help to generate a few more low clouds for coastal areas. It may be enough to give us a few sprinkles of drizzle early Saturday and some low cloud cover, but that’s about it.

The partial solar eclipse will be visible around the Monterey Bay area on Saturday morning starting around 8:05AM and lasting until around 10:45AM with a maximum eclipse at 9:20AM. Latest forecast: Low clouds on the coast will impact visibility—mostly clear conditions expected inland.

AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate (some smoke in the San Lorenzo Valley, including Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, due to controlled burns over on the North Coast)

Overnight: Mostly cloudy near the coast, partly cloudy inland. A mix of high and low clouds will continue to move through the area into the morning. Lows will be warmer due to the cloud cover, with widespread 50s. Valleys will be cooler in the upper 40s. A chance of drizzle is possible.

Saturday: Becoming partly cloudy later in the day. Expect highs in the 60s to low 70s on the coast and 70s to low 80s inland. Breezy around the river mouths becoming windy for inland valleys later in the day.

Sunday: Patchy dense fog in the am then clearing. Expect sunny skies by the afternoon across the coast and temps warm slightly.

Extended: Temperatures will head up on Sunday, then cool or level out a bit Mon/Tue before climbing again late in the weak. Highs will once again be above normal in some locations, especially inland with upper 80s and 90s. Our progressive flow will send a series of troughs and ridges through over the next week or two. Rain looks to stay well to our north.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 51ºF
HIGH: 70ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 47ºF
HIGH: 79ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for October 20^th – 26^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory
- ENSO Forecast: Strong to Very Strong El Niño expected this winter.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free