One More Round Of Rain
A frontal system will bring light rain to the Monterey Bay region overnight and into Tuesday morning. A few light showers/drizzle may linger into late morning before clouds begin to scatter out. It’s looking like rainfall totals will be fairly light, even in the coastal mountains. Winds may be a bit gusty out of the northwest behind the cold front Tuesday afternoon, then will slowly veer to the north Wednesday and to the northeast Thursday. This is all in response to a tightening pressure gradient as a ridge of high pressure builds in from the west. The offshore push will lead to a bit warm-up through the weekend.
AIR QUALITY: Good
Overnight: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers around the bay and coastal mountains and isolated showers inland. Mild, with lows in the low 50s on the coast and 40s to around 50ºF inland.
Tuesday: Showers taper off with partly cloudy skies by mid-afternoon. Northwesterly winds pick up and get gusty at times later in the day. Highs in the upper 50s to low 60s on the coast and low to mid 60s inland.
***GALE WARNING***
…for the near coastal waters from Point Pinos to Point Piedras Blancas from 3PM Tuesday extended until 9AM Wednesday
*Northwest winds 20 to 30 kt with gusts up to 35 kt and seas 9 to 13 ft expected.
*Strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.
Mariners should alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions. Remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, and/or secure the vessel for severe conditions.
Wednesday: Fog possible in valley bottoms in the morning, then mostly sunny everywhere with just a few high clouds passing through. Gusty northerly winds at times, especially inland and on the exposed coast. Slightly warmer with highs mainly in the 60s.
Extended: Winds will shift more to the northeast on Thursday before tapering off with full sunshine Thu/Fri. Temperatures jump up above normal into and through the weekend, though the sea breeze may moderate the coast and introduce a few low clouds back into the equation. The long term forecast is still looking pretty dry, especially for the next week or so.
*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: 45ºF
HIGH: 63ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 67ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 19th – 25th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE 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
