Brief Warming

Weak high pressure builds in Tuesday, warming us up slightly before the next weather system arrives. On the tamer side, only light rain can be expected at most on Wednesday. The next ridge builds in thereafter.

Air Quality: Good

Overnight: A few high clouds passing through at times. Patchy low clouds, notably over the Santa Clara Valley and San Benito County valleys. Some on the northern slopes of the Santa Lucias as well. Potential for fog in low, sheltered, and especially damp areas. Lows in the upper 30s to mid-40s on the coast and low 30s to low 40s inland. Breezy northerly winds over the hills.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny early, then increasing clouds late. Warmer with up-valley breezes in the afternoon. Coastal highs in the upper 50s to mid-60s with low to mid-60s inland.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy early with a chance of showers mainly around Monterey Bay and to the north around mid-day. Then, decreasing clouds. Slightly cooler with highs in the upper 50s to mid-60s. Breezy northwesterly winds becoming stronger late.

Extended: High pressure rebuilds through the end of the week with temperatures heading upward accordingly. We’ll likely see a little wind on Thursday as the pattern transitions. Highs will be above normal through the weekend with dry conditions persisting.

*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: 44ºF
HIGH: 61ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 40ºF
HIGH: 63ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for February 25^th – March 3^rd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW 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 eastern San Benito County and far southeastern Monterey County. Abnormally dry for the remainder of the viewing area.
 Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of February 18^th 54.0ºF (avg of 8 buoys)
[February Avg. SST: 54.9ºF]