Windy Wednesday

A passing weather system will bring gusty winds to the region on Wednesday. Northwest winds 20-30 mph could gust up to 40-50 mph in exposed areas and in the valleys. Some minor vegetation damage is possible and I expect areas of blowing dust as well. The associated front will move through late Wednesday night and may make for an enhanced drizzle chance on northwest-facing slopes, but precipitation is otherwise not expected. The passing trough will be out of our area by late week, leaving us in light northwest flow which should make for fairly seasonable weather—perhaps a little cool for inland areas.

**Gale Warning**..Monterey Bay and Coastal Waters from Point Pinos to Point Piedras
Blancas California out to 10 nm.

...Northwest winds 25 to 35 kt with gusts up to 45 kt expected.

* WHEN.., til 9 PM
PDT this evening.

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

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Today: Becoming partly cloudy with gusty northwesterly winds for most areas. Highs in the mid 60s to upper 70s on the coast—warmest on the north side of the bay with downsloping winds—and mid 70s to mid 80s inland. Clouds increase late.

Overnight: Increasing clouds with slight chance for drizzle and breezy winds. Lows low to upper 50s mainly.

Thursday: Partly cloudy with decreasing winds later in the day with a slight chance of sprinkles on northwest-facing slopes. Then becoming mostly sunny and breezy in the afternoon and warmer with coastal highs in the mid 60s to upper 70s and upper 70s to upper 80s inland.
 
Extended: Seasonable to slightly cool for the rest of the week and into the weekend with partly cloudy skies. We’re tracking another trough moving through early next week. One or two models are showing some light precip in our area, but rain is not officially in our forecast yet. Stay tuned.

*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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 55ºF
HIGH: 71ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 86ºF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for September 18^th – 24^th calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña into the fall.
- Area drought status: Currently drought-free