Time to dry out

Finally some dry weather with clearing skies and sunshine on tap just in time for the holiday weekend. Since 4 p.m. Sunday the National Weather Service San Francisco has total rainfall amounts at 3-4 inches for Santa Cruz areas to 1.5-2 inches for Monterey. Big Sur rainfall totals were the highest at 4-6 inches. We’ll enter a cooler, dryer pattern as a (dry) cold front arrives Friday. Quiet weather for the next several days!

AIR QUALITY: GOOD

Overnight: Lingering, light showers into dawn. Partly cloudy with cooler lows in the 40s and 50s near the coast, upper 30s to low 40s inland. Light easterly winds.

Friday: Patchy morning fog, then mostly sunny. A dry cold front will bring gusty northwesterly winds in the afternoon. Slightly cooler, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Saturday: Mostly sunny and slightly cool with highs in the mid 50s to around 60ºF.

Extended: The holiday is looking mostly sunny and slightly cool. Lows will be in the 30s-40s and highs in the 50s to low 60s. Some warming likely Tuesday before a weak system brings rain chances Wednesday.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 42ºF
HIGH: 59ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 60ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 28^th – January 3^rd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE 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