Storm System Winds Down

Showers slowly taper off overnight as the storm system that has brought inclement weather to the state begins to move on. Wednesday is expected to be a mostly dry day outside of any lingering morning showers and the potential for a few mountain showers in the afternoon. Dry weather returns FOR SURE by Thursday with warmer conditions into the weekend. A weak storm system will approach from the west and will likely bring us some light rainfall. The “when” is the most difficult question as many model solutions spread out the timing between several days. I think the best chance is late Sunday into Monday.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Overnight: Isolated showers, otherwise partly cloudy. Patchy fog. Lows in the 40s.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy with isolated showers over the higher terrain in the afternoon. Cooler, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s.

Thursday: Patchy valley fog, then mostly sunny and warmer with highs in the 60s for most areas—perhaps a few spots right along the coast in the upper 50s.

Extended: Warmer, dry weather can be expected on Friday, although we’ll have some high clouds moving through at times. Saturday is trending dry and warm but there will be a chance of rain in the Sunday/Monday timeframe followed by cooler temperatures.

*Note: Any alerts from the National Weather Service in Monterey will be noted in italics above. Alerts may be edited for brevity or local clarification (in parenthesis) 

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 44ºF
HIGH: 61ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 40ºF
HIGH: 64ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for February 28^th – March 5^th calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory, La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition from El Niño to neutral by Spring and then to La Niña by summer.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free