Weekend Clouds, Cooler

Your forecast for Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and southern Santa Clara Counties…

The ridge of high pressure to our west that has been building and warming us over the past few days will ease back to the southwest, allowing for a series of troughs to pass by to the north. The marine layer will deepen slightly along with cooling temperatures aloft during this period, so cooler temperatures and the return of coastal clouds can be expected into the weekend. We may even see a bit of drizzle Saturday and Sunday mornings. A stronger ridge will begin to build in early next week, which should warm us back up!

AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate

Overnight: Increasing clouds near the coast, becoming partly to mostly cloudy. With a less compressed marine layer, low clouds have a better chance to make it into some of the major valleys come sunrise. Lows will be a touch warmer with upper 40s to mid 50s at the coast, mostly 40s inland. Calm westerly winds.

**GALE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM SATURDAY TO 3 AM PDT SUNDAY**

* WHAT.. For northwest winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts up to 35 kt expected.

* WHERE...Coastal Waters from Point Pinos to Point Piedras Blancas California out to 10 nm.

* WHEN... From 9 PM Saturday to 3 AM PDT Sunday.

* IMPACTS...Strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.

Saturday: Thicker low clouds in the morning with patchy drizzle on the south/east sides of the bay. Cooler, with coastal highs in the 60s and 70s-80s inland. Stronger northwesterly onshore and up-valley winds late in the day.

Sunday: AM fog/drizzle and clouds, then clearing with sunny skies in the afternoon. Coastal highs in the low to mid 60s and 70s to 80s inland.

Extended: Another warming trend begins Tuesday especially for inland areas with temps getting hot by mid week. So far, heat alerts have been issued east of the local viewing area like Fresno and Sacramento, but we could still have a moderate heat risk for inland communities such as typical hot spots in the southern Salinas Valley.
 
*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: 51ºF
HIGH: 67ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 48ºF
HIGH: 78ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for June 7^th – 13^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory, La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition from El Niño to neutral soon and then to La Niña by summer.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free
-Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature* as of May 30^th: 56.2ºF
(Historic May AVG: 55.8ºF)
*average of three buoys