Shower & Thunderstorm Threat Into Thursday
Rounds of showers and perhaps an embedded thunderstorm will roll through the Monterey Bay area Thursday morning as a cold area of low pressure passes by. While thunderstorm activity is not expected to be widespread, a few bolts will be possible. Additionally, snow levels may be as low as 3,000ft, so don’t be surprised to see a new coating of white paint on area mountains! Showers will taper off into the afternoon as instability wanes, then high pressure slowly builds in with warmer, drier weather expected.
Air Quality: Good
Overnight: Partly cloudy with rounds of showers with embedded thunderstorms possible. Snow levels drop to 3,000ft and perhaps slightly lower in some areas. Lows in the mid-30s to mid-40s. Small hail possible in showers/storms.
Thursday: Rounds of showers with embedded thunderstorms possible through the morning hours. Then, partly cloudy with showers becoming more isolated in the afternoon. Cool with gusty northwesterly winds. Highs in the 50s. Partial clearing late.
Friday: Low clouds and fog for the coast and valleys in the morning, then becoming mostly sunny with just a few cumulus clouds over the hills. There is a slight chance for a shower to develop over the far southern mountains. Breezy northwesterly winds, perhaps windy at times for inland valleys. Highs in the 50s to low 60s.
Extended: High pressure builds in for the weekend, with temperatures heading back up close to normal—though nights will be chilly. Southerly winds pickup on Sunday as a weather system approaches from the west. Initially, it was looking to make a direct impact on the Monterey Bay Area, but some model solutions are now pushing it south or keeping it offshore. As of now, we’re keeping a good chance of rain in the forecast for Monday with showers lingering into Tuesday. A potentially stronger system will likely be in our vicinity on Wednesday and is definitely worth watching!
*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: 45ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 40ºF
HIGH: 65ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 13th – 19th 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 March 6th: 53.0ºF (avg of 7 buoys)
[Historic March Avg. SST: 55.3ºF]
