Windy, Wet and Cold Weekend
Gusty winds, rain and much cooler temps arrive for the weekend. Expect widespread light to moderate rain as a cold front pushes through the Central Coast. There is also a chance for a couple isolated thunderstorms. Staying unsettled for both days with on and off showers. Gusty sw winds will become stronger ahead, and as the cold front passes. Winds will stay gust throughout the weekend with rain finally tapering off Sunday evening. Rainfall totals will vary, coastal mountains .75-1", coastal Cities .50 or less, most other areas .25 or less. Most areas will be in the upper 50s to 60 ° through the weekend. Get that warm coat and umbrella ready!
AIR QUALITY: Good
Overnight: As the system moves southeast, light to moderate rain to continue in southern Monterey and most of San Benito County into midnight. Rain will start to taper off by morning, with a few scattered showers possible behind the cold front. Mostly cloudy, becoming partly cloudy. Lows will be mild, in the mid 40s to low 50s. Southwest winds will remain breezy, gusty at times.
Saturday: Cloudy with scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Individual storms could produce brief heavy downpours, stronger wind gusts, and small hail. Highs will be noticeably cooler in the upper 50s to low 60s across the region.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers and chance for a thunderstorm then becoming partly cloudy but still cool with highs again in the upper 50s to low 60s.
Extended: Showers and a slight chance of a thunderstorm will linger into early Sunday, though increased afternoon sunshine may bump temps up a bit. Models are trending dryer for the early part of next week, though still watching a weak system on Monday. Next rain chance arrives mid-week. Temps will be slow to warm back up.
*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).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 45ºF
HIGH: 63ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 41ºF
HIGH: 68ºF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 29th – April 4rd 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
