Winter Marine Layer

Expect another cooler day on Saturday with marine layer clouds and light onshore winds. Some warming with offshore winds possible into the work week.

Air Quality: Good to Moderate

**FROST ADVISORY**
… for the higher terrain and southern valleys of Monterey and San Benito Counties in effect until 9am Saturday.

*Temperatures as low as 34 will result in frost formation.

*Cold conditions will be hazardous to sensitive populations such as unhoused individuals. Cold conditions can lead to hypothermia with prolonged exposure.

*Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.

Overnight: Low clouds for the coast and major valleys with patchy fog possible. Lows in the upper 30s to upper 40s for coastal areas, 20s to low 40s inland.  

Saturday: Low clouds early with partial clearing into the afternoon—some clouds may linger on the south side of the bay. Light offshore in the winds becoming light onshore into the afternoon. Slightly cool with highs mainly in the 50s to low 60s.

Sunday: Mostly clear with just a few low clouds and a few high clouds. Slightly cool to seasonable with highs in the 50s to low 60s. Light onshore winds in the afternoon.

Extended: Northerly offshore winds will pick up over the hills on Monday and could be quite gusty in the Santa Cruz Mountains. High pressure building in along with the offshore flow will mean for overall warmer afternoons through mid-week. Rain chances look slim until at least the 25^th, 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: 61ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for January 25^th – 31^st calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- ENSO Forecast: La Niña persists into spring, then transitions to neutral by summer.- Area drought status: Abnormally dry for San Benito County, northeastern Monterey County and eastern Santa Clara County. Drought-free elsewhere- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of January 18^th : 53.5ºF (avg of 7 buoys) [January Average: 54.7ºF]