Cloud Party

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) – The marine layer will begin to compress on Wednesday as high pressure nudges in from the southwest. All inland areas will warm up 5-10ºF. On the coast, low clouds are likely to linger again, but perhaps with less coverage by late afternoon. Coastal temps should rise 1-4ºF but remain below normal. We’ll warm slightly Thursday with a bit more sunshine and even more coastal sun by Friday with highs returning closer to normal.  
    
Air Quality: Good 
 
Overnight: Low clouds for the coast and inland valleys with patchy fog inland and in the hills. Lows in the low 50s on the coast, upper 40s to low 50s for inland valleys.  
  
Wednesday: Clouds retreat to the coast by mid-morning with partial clearing on the north half of the bay. Slightly warmer, with coastal highs in the upper 50s to mid-70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid-70s to mid-90s inland. Windy up valleys in the afternoon.  
 
Thursday: Low clouds for the coast and valleys in the morning, then becoming partly cloudy on the coast and sunny inland. Slightly warmer, with coastal highs in the low 60s to mid-70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid-70s to mid-90s inland. Windy up valleys late in the day.  
   
Extended: We’ll see a bit more clearing on the coast through into the weekend which should bring coastal highs back to normal. Inland areas will continue to float slightly above.    
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This week's normal temperatures:  
--COASTAL CITIES--  
LOW: 52ºF  
HIGH: 68ºF  
--INLAND CITIES--  
LOW: 50ºF              
HIGH: 82ºF         

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The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for July 2^nd – 8^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal precipitation, though little to no precipitation usually falls this time of year.  
 
- 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 June 25^th : 53.6ºF (avg. of 7 buoys) [Historic June Avg. SST: 56.7ºF]