Lingering Showers

A few more showers linger into Friday on the back side of Thursday’s storm system. A small low pressure center will rotate in Friday morning and will help generate a few showers around the Monterey Bay Area, then daytime heating will add a few more over the hills into Friday afternoon. Cool, blustery conditions will continue as drier north-northwest flow sets in for the next few days. Skies will clear with cold mornings and cool afternoons.

Air Quality: Good

Overnight: Partly to mostly cloudy with an isolated shower or two. Patchy fog possible. Expect lows in the 40s for most areas. Westerly winds slowly easing.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers early, then becoming partly cloudy with an isolated shower possible into the afternoon. Breezy northwesterly winds at times. Shower chances end by late afternoon with clearing skies.

***FREEZE WARNING***
…for the southern valleys and higher terrain of Monterey & San Benito Counties and the Diablo Range in South Santa Clara County in effect from 1AM Saturday until 9AM Saturday.

*Sub-freezing temperatures as low as 26 expected.

*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.

Be sure to open sink cabinet doors and/or drip faucets. This may help reduce or prevent damage to uninsulated pipes and other plumbing.

**FROST ADVISORY**
…for the lower elevation valleys of Monterey & San Benito Counties, the coast of Monterey & Santa Cruz Counties, the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the Santa Clara Valley in effect from 1AM Saturday until 9AM Saturday

*Temperatures as low as 32 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.

Be sure to cover or tend to sensitive plants and vegetation as they may be damaged by frost.

Saturday: Patchy fog and a few low clouds early, otherwise mostly clear and cool with lows in the 30s for most areas, then becoming sunny with highs in the 50s to around 60ºF. North-northwesterly winds becoming gusty late in the day.

Extended: Cool north-northwest flow will continue into early next week with the air mass slowly drying. Mostly clear skies will lead to cold nights and the cool air mass will only support cool afternoons. Sunday and Monday mornings will likely be the coldest with patchy frost to the coast and widespread frost inland. Then, the pattern becomes more active again. A relatively dry system will swing in from the north on Tuesday and may bring a few showers but it will also bring a reinforcing bout of cooler air. A stronger system may come in off the Pacific later in the week and there looks to be some potential for heavier rainfall.

*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 February 14^th – 20^th calls for the likelihood of BELOW 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: Moderate drought for the eastern valleys of San Benito County and far southeastern Monterey County, abnormally dry for the rest of the KION coverage area in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and South Santa Clara Counties.
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of February 6^th : 54.4ºF (avg of 5 buoys) [January Average: 54.9ºF]