The Warm-Up

WEATHER STORY

High pressure will build in for the remainder of the week, bringing much warmer air to the region. Onshore flow will keep coastal areas temperate, but even they will reach above normal highs by Wednesday. Inland areas may see highs as much as 10-15ºF above normal Thursday/Friday. A weak weather system passes by this weekend, but it will only cool us down a few degrees and add a couple extra clouds to the sky. No rain expected for the next couple of weeks.  

FORECAST

Overnight: A few low clouds/fog will be possible on the south side of the bay, but skies should be otherwise clear. Expect lows in the low 40s on the coast and upper 30s to low 40s inland. Breezy at times over the hills.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny with a few high clouds passing through and a few low clouds on the coast. Warmer yet with highs in the 60s to low 70s on the coast—warmest on the north side of the bay—and 70s-80s inland. Breezy for inland valleys in the afternoon and early evening.

Thursday: Mostly sunny with a few low clouds on the coast. Warmer yet with highs in the 60s to low 70s on the coast—warmest on the north side of the bay—and widespread 80s inland. Breezy for inland valleys in the afternoon and early evening.

Extended: Warming will continue through the end of the week with highs some 5-15ºF above normal—warmest inland—all under mostly sunny skies. It will remain breezy for inland valleys during the afternoons. We’ll cool a bit this weekend, but highs will remain at or above normal, then warm again next week as the ridge builds back in.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 48ºF
HIGH: 65ºF
 
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 44ºF
HIGH: 74ºF

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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for May 5^th – May 11^th calls for the likelihood of near normal temperatures and BELOW normal precipitation. 
 
-El Niño/La Niña STATUS: Weak La Niña
-Forecast into Summer: Neutral

-Area drought status: “Severe Drought” for Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties, along with northern Monterey, northern San Benito, and far southeastern Monterey Counties. The remainder of Monterey & San Benito Counties are in “Moderate Drought”