Warming out of the Weekend

Air Quality Report (As of 3:00PM)
All reporting stations good to moderate.

A weather system will split to our north and south as we head into the weekend, its rains deflected away from us. We may see some indirect precipitation in the form of drizzle, however. High pressure will then rapidly build in behind it with gusty winds on Sunday and offshore flow continuing for most of next week. Temperatures will head back above normal by Monday and remain there for the rest of the week—along with sunny and very dry conditions. It seems likely that fires to our north and east will continue burning next week and thus, smoke will likely return to our skies as well.

Overnight: Low clouds return for most coastal and inland valley locations. Patchy drizzle possible, mainly on west-facing slopes near the coast. Expect coastal lows in the mid to upper 50s with upper 40s to low 50s inland.

Saturday: Becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon. A touch warmer, but still a bit cool for this time of year with coastal highs in the 60s to low 70s and mainly 70s to low 80s inland. Becoming breezy late, especially over the hills.

Sunday: A few morning low clouds, then sunny. Warmer, with coastal highs in the upper 60s to upper 70s and mid-70s to mid-80s inland. Breezy at times over the hills.
 
Extended: Temperatures will continue their upward on Monday as high pressure strengthens. Offshore winds may be gusty at times, especially over the hills. Flow will decrease but will remain lightly offshore for most of the rest of the week. Temperatures will remain above normal for most of next week. It is also likely that smoke will present for most of next week too.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 71ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 48ºF
HIGH: 83ºF

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for October 17^th – 23^rd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation. 
 
-El Niño/La Niña STATUS: Neutral
-Forecast into Winter: La Niña Advisory

-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.