Tracking Rain & Snow Chances

Back to reality this weekend! Cooler air, rain and snow chances arrive for Saturday and Sunday. Get the warm jackets out and put away the shorts and flip flops. An upper level low will move in from the northeast for the weekend bringing a deep pool of cold air aloft and helping draw in some moisture. The result will be two days of showers, mountain snow, and potentially thunderstorms Saturday/Sunday. High temps will be quite cool compared to recent times with temps rising only into the 50s in many locations. The cool air will stick around for much of next week.

Air Quality: Good to Moderate

**FROST ADVISORY**
…for the far interior areas of Monterey and most of San Benito counties until 9AM Sunday

*Temperatures as low as 31 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.

**FREEZE WATCH**

...for Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast, Santa Cruz Mountains, Northern Salinas Valley/Hollister Valley and Carmel Valley...interior valleys and mts of Monterey and San Benito counties, and Santa Clara Hills beginning late Sunday night through Wednesday morning.*

*Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 29 are possible in many locations. These cold temps will kill crops and vegetation and could affect outdoor plumbing. Cold conditions will be hazardous to people and animals, leading to hypothermia.

*Remember the four Ps: People, Pets, Plants & Pipes. Take care of all to stay safe from the freezing cold.

Overnight: Mostly cloudy and chilly with areas of frost mainly inland. Scattered rain showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Snow possible in higher mountain peaks in southern parts of the local region. Lows in the 40s at coast and 30s and low 40s inland. Frost possible for some far inland areas.

Sunday: Partly sunny with a scattered rain showers, chance for thunderstorms. Mountain snow is also expected for parts of higher elevations above 3,500 feet in southern Monterey County. Cooler with highs staying in the mid to upper 50s. Cold at night with a Freeze Watch.

Extended: The upper level low will remain over us for Sunday with additional showers & mountain snow likely. Thunderstorms will remain possible. We’ll slowly clear through Monday into Tuesday, though temperatures will remain cool even with a ridge building back in on the West Coast. The storm track is beginning to look a little closer to us by the first week of February. 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

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 43ºF
HIGH: 61ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 38ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for January 31^st -  February 6^th calls for the likelihood of near normal temperatures and ABOVE 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 24^th : 53.1ºF (avg of 7 buoys) [January Average: 54.7ºF]