Swingin’ On Up

Temperature swing back upward on Thursday as ridging rebuilds from both the east and the west. The marine layer will slowly compress, so some coastal clouds will hang round. By Friday, stronger high pressure will yield another day of above normal temperatures—in some cases as much as 10-15ºF above. This will also be short-lived, as troughing redevelops on the coast, deepening the marine layer once again into the weekend. See more in the extended forecast below.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Overnight: Low clouds for the coast and major inland valleys with lows in the mid 50s for most areas. Some southern valleys that remain clear will dip into the 40s.

Thursday: Becoming partly cloudy on the coast and mostly sunny inland with clouds favoring the south side of the bay. Warmer, with coastal highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and upper 70s to upper 90s inland. Windy up valleys late in the day.

Friday: Morning fog clearing with sunrise, then sunny throughout the day. Warmer, with coastal highs in the low 70s to upper 80s and upper 80s to around 102ºF inland. Windy up valleys late in the day.

Extended: A deeper marine layer will mean cooler temperatures and more coastal cloudcover Saturday and Sunday. We should have afternoon clearing in Salinas (for those concerned about the air show). Into next week, a very strong ridge of high pressure builds in from the west with temperatures aloft rivaling that of what we can see mid-summer. If the forecast holds true, we could be looking at widespread 100s inland and even 90s toward the coast.

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

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 86ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for October 3^rd - 9^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation.

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña into the fall and persist through the winter months.
- Area drought status: Abnormally dry for areas around Monterey Bay northward. Drought-free elsewhere.
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature* as of September 24^th : 58.7ºF
(Historic Sep AVG near Monterey: 59.6ºF) -- *average of 7 buoys