Better Air

AIR QUALITY (PM2.5 AQI as of 12:00AM)
Moderate in Santa Cruz, Hollister, Big Sur, and King City
GOOD for all other reporting stations.

Clearer air is in sight. The blocked up weather pattern has loosened up enough to let a weather system approach from the west. With the ridge settling in to our east, this system will end up riding up and over the ridge to our north. Still, we will see some indirect impacts including a cleansing southwesterly flow and potentially a marine layer-deepening drizzle event in the Thursday/Friday timeframe. The southwesterly winds will become more dominate aloft over the next couple of days and will keep pushing lofted smoke away from us. These winds will also draw in some tropical moisture which will appear as high clouds Thursday. The marine layer, which has been polluted by smoke over the ocean will slowly cleanse itself too, leading to less haze and better air quality all around.

Overnight: Low clouds and patchy fog redeveloping around the bay and eventually pushing into valleys. Occasional smoke. Coastal lows in the 50s with mid-40s to low 50s inland.

Wednesday: Patchy low clouds near the coast and hazy at times. Air quality will remain reduced will but will be improved over recent days. Warmer, with coastal highs in the upper 60s to upper 70s and 80s to around 100ºF inland. Breezy for inland valleys in the afternoon.

Extended: Low clouds will be thicker and a bit more drizzly in on Thursday & Friday mornings, but we’ll still see some afternoon sun and seasonable temperatures. Some cooling on Saturday as a weather system brings a cooler air mass to the region. Then, slow warming into early next week.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 53ºF
HIGH: 71ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 50ºF
HIGH: 85ºF

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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for September 23^rd – 29^th  calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. Note: Little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year.

-El Niño/La Niña STATUS: Neutral
-Forecast into Winter: La Niña Watch

-Area drought status: Moderate drought for much of Santa Cruz & Santa Clara Counties, Abnormally dry on the east shore of the bay into San Benito County. No drought classification for much of Monterey County outside of the Gabilan Range.