Clouds, Wind and Rain

Increasing clouds for Saturday night with a chance for a few light rain showers/drizzle developing through early morning Sunday as another system arrives from the north. Showers and a risk of isolated thunderstorms possible through early Sunday afternoon. Winds will turn gusty and temperatures will continue to cool down with highs in the low to upper 50s. Expect unsettled weather for much of next week as well with more rain chances by Wednesday into Thursday.

Air Quality: Good to Moderate

**HIGH SURF ADVISORY**
... for north and west-facing coastal areas of Monterey & Santa Cruz Counties in effect until 9PM Monday

*Westerly swell increasing to 10 to 11 feet with swell periods 17 seconds resulting in breakers up to 19 feet from Saturday morning through Monday evening.

*Dangerous swimming and surfing conditions and localized beach erosion. Sneaker waves can unexpectedly run significantly farther up the beach than normal, including over rocks and jetties. These waves can suddenly knock people off their feet and quickly pull them into the cold ocean waters, where currents will be stronger than normal. These waves can also carry driftwood logs and other debris.

Inexperienced swimmers should remain out of the water due to dangerous surf conditions.

Remain out of the water to avoid hazardous swimming conditions.

Overnight: Becoming mostly cloudy with a chance for a few light rain showers through early morning Sunday. Lows in the low to upper 40s.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy with rounds of rain showers and a chance of thunderstorms through early afternoon, cooler in most locations with gusty winds. Highs in the 50s.

Extended: The cooler air will also bring a chance for a little bit of snow above 4,000ft in elevation. Then we’ll get a break to start off the work week as the system moves out. However, additional rain chances will be possible through late week with an unsettled weather pattern.

*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: 62ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 40ºF
HIGH: 64ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 7^th – 13^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 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 28^th 54.2ºF (avg of 8 buoys)
[February Avg. SST: 54.9ºF]