Seasonable For Now

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

Windy conditions will persist on Monday, though will ease slightly from weekend highs. A trough of low pressure currently sits over the West Coast and while the main low will begin to move to the east on Monday, weak troughing will linger over the coast through the end of the week. With the stronger low gone, winds will ease. However, with the lingering troughing, high temperatures are likely to stay seasonable to slightly cool for the majority of the week.

AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate

***GALE WARNING***
… for the near coastal waters from Pigeon Point all the way south to Point Piedras Blancas excluding Monterey Bay extended until 3AM Monday
*Northwest winds 20 to 35 kt with gusts up to 45 kt and seas 8 to 13ft 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.

Overnight: Clear to start with patchy fog/low clouds developing around the bay and nearby valleys. Expect lows in the upper 40s to low 50s on the coast and mid 40s to low 50s for inland valleys. Gusty northwesterly onshore and up-valley winds continue at times in exposed areas.

Monday: A few low clouds on the coast early, then mostly sunny with only a few high clouds passing through. Expect highs in the low 60s to around 80ºF on the coast—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid 70s to around 90ºF inland. Gusty north-northwesterly onshore and up-valley winds at times.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy on the coast with a few low clouds and some high clouds passing across the entire area. Slightly cooler on the coast with highs in the low 60s to mid 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—but about the same inland with mid 70s to around 90ºF. Breezy northwesterly onshore winds becoming gusty in the valleys late in the day.

Extended: We’ll see a chance of drizzle on Wednesday morning with a deeper onshore push. Temps will fall a bit as well, both on the coast and inland. We’ll see a couple of partly cloudy days on the coast mid-week before a warming trend into next weekend as the influence of high pressure builds back in.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 68ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 50ºF
HIGH: 82ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for June 24^th - 30^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal* precipitation.
*Note: little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña by late summer.
- Area drought status: Currently drought-free
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature* as of June 16^th: 55.3ºF
(Historic June AVG: 56.7ºF) -- *average of three buoys