Heading Back Down

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) –  Temperatures will cool Thursday-Friday as a weak trough passes over the West Coast. By Friday, we should return to seasonal normals, but probably not below.  

Air Quality: Good to Moderate     

Overnight: Clear to start with low clouds/fog possible on the south side of the bay before dawn. Lows in 40s. Breezy northwesterly onshore winds on the exposed coast and up valleys.  

Thursday: A few morning low clouds then mostly sunny with high clouds passing through. Cooler with coastal highs in the low 60s to mid-70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid 70s to upper 80s inland. Northwesterly onshore winds becoming windy on the coast and in the valleys late in the day.  
 
Friday: A few low clouds and patchy fog early in the day, then partly cloudy on the coast and mostly sunny inland. Cooler yet with highs in the upper 50s to low 70s on the coast—warmest on the north side of the bay—and low 70s to mid-80s inland. Northwesterly onshore winds becoming windy on the coast and in the valleys late in the day.  

Extended: A short ridge will build back in on Saturday, sending tempeartures back upward, but not before a cloudy start for many areas. We may even squeeze out a spritz of drizzle on the south side of the bay. Temps warm further into Sunday then level off. The next trough arrives Tuesday and there may be some chance for precip in the Tuesday/Wednesday timeframe, but it remains a low probability event. Beyond that, inland heat is looking likely again next week.  

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This week's normal temperatures:  
--COASTAL CITIES--  
LOW: 50ºF  
HIGH: 66ºF  
--INLAND CITIES--  
LOW: 47ºF  
HIGH: 76ºF 
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The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for May 29^th – June 4^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. 
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: Neutral 
- ENSO Forecast: Neutral conditions persist through summer & possibly into next winter.   
-Area drought status: Abnormally dry for portions of southern San Benito and southeastern Monterey Counties. Drought-free for the remainder of the KION coverage area.    
-Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of May 22^nd : 55.7ºF (avg. of 7 buoys) [Historic May Avg. SST: 55.8ºF]