Warm & Sunny For Now

Warmer-than-normal weather will continue for most of the week. A massive ridge of high pressure has set up shop on the West Coast, blocking storm systems and pushing to them to the north. The very tail end of one may graze our area on Thursday and what amounts to a weakening mid-level warm front will bring some extra clouds (and maybe a few radar echoes), but rain is not expected.

AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate

Overnight: Mostly clear with patchy fog possible along the coast, especially the outer coast of Monterey County. Lows in the low to mid-40s on the coast and low 30s to low 40s inland.

Wednesday: Sunny and warm with coastal highs in the low 60s to around 70ºF and upper 60s to mid-70s inland. Light onshore winds.

Thursday: Passing high clouds, otherwise mostly sunny. Warm once again with coastal highs in the low 60s to around 70ºF and upper 60s to mid-70s inland. Light onshore winds.

Extended: High pressure will continue to dominate through the end of the week, though the blocking pattern will change slightly. By the weekend, a weather system may slide over the ridge and impact us from the “back door” as it moves into the Great Basin. While rain is not expected, it may stir up the winds a bit and push them offshore. Latest timeline would be Sunday/Monday, also ushering in a cooler air mass (and probably dryer with cold mornings to follow). Dry conditions expected to continue locally through at least the 13^th but perhaps even longer.

*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: 42ºF
HIGH: 60ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 11^th – 17^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near 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 December 4^th : 54.3ºF (avg of 7 buoys) [December Average: 55.0ºF]