Weekend Cool-Down
High pressure slides to the east on Friday. An upper level
disturbance moving in from the south will bring widespread clouds to the region
Friday. However, outside of a slight cool-down, it will have little impact on
the weather at ground level. A stronger, cold storm system will dig down the
coast Saturday into Sunday, however. This one will have major impacts! Strong
onshore flow on Saturday will cool coastal areas down into the 50s—some 20-25ºF
cooler than the previous few days. The associated cold front will move through
Saturday night, without much fanfare. However, the atmosphere behind it will
remain unstable enough that a few showers are possible over the mountains on
Sunday. Those showers may have small hail or graupel (snow pellets), along with
brief wind gusts and lightning. Strong northwest winds on Saturday will slowly
shift to more northerly by Sunday/Monday. That offshore flow will warm us
quickly next week, though Monday morning will be quite cold. The longer term
weather models are trending wetter after March 7th.
Overnight: Scattered high clouds overnight.
Mild, with coastal lows in the 40s to low 50s, upper 30s to 40s for inland
valleys, and 50s up in the hills.
Friday: Scattered high clouds
throughout the day. Cooler, but still warm with coastal highs in the mid 60s to
mid 70s and mostly 70s inland. Winds will pick up on the exposed coast late and
may blow in a few low clouds.
Saturday: Partly cloudy with gusty
northwest winds. Much cooler, with coastal highs in the mid 50s to around 60ºF
and mainly 60s inland. Clouds increase late with a cold front. A few light
sprinkles may be possible.
Extended: We’ll see partly cloudy skies on Sunday with isolated
showers popping up over the hills. Some showers may have small hail/graupel.
Otherwise, cool and breezy with highs in the 50s to low 60s. Breezy northerly
winds will continue on Monday and after a cold morning with frost in inland
valleys, highs will warm back up to normal or perhaps above both on the coast
and inland. Highs will remain warm under mostly sunny skies for most of next
week.
The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for March 6th-12th calls
for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE
normal precipitation.
El Niño/La Niña STATUS: Neutral
Forecast into Summer: Neutral
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 45ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 40ºF
HIGH: 65ºF
