Heavy Rain Takes A Lunch Break, Will Return Later
AIR QUALITY:
GOOD for all reporting stations
WEATHER STORY
Cold air fills in behind Monday’s strong storm system with a few showers lingering overnight. Snow levels dip to 2,500ft. Another weather system will follow late Wednesday into early Thursday morning with widespread moderate rain before we get a few days break just in time for the weekend.
**HIGH SURF ADVISORY**
in effect until 10AM Wednesday for the immediate coast of Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties.
-WNW swell of 15 to 18 feet at 15 to 17 seconds with the approaching storm system. This will result in large breaking waves of 20 to 25 feet in the surf zone as well as increased coastal run up.
-Highest risk at west to northwest facing beaches
-Breaking waves can sweep people off jetties and docks, and into cold and dangerous seas where hypothermia or drowning can occur within within a minute.https://800aa55d486caee277deafa27e57cebc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
-Steep southerly wind waves will reduce the intensity of these waves Sunday into early Monday before dissipating. Larger waves are expected as winds and wind driven southerly seas subside later Monday into Tuesday.
A High Surf Advisory means that high surf will affect beaches in the advisory area, producing rip currents, localized beach erosion and sneaker waves.
Wednesday: Skies become partly cloudy with another cool & breezy day. Highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Clouds increase late with light to moderate rain moving from north to south across the area into Thursday morning. Moderate to heavy rainfall returns to Santa Cruz and parts of Santa Clara counties early in the evening.
Overnight: Isolated, moderate to at times heavy rainfall across the region. Slight potential for smaller hail. Winds will become quite gusty as well. Lows in the mid to high 40s.
Extended: Then, we’ll get some clearing with dry conditions expected into and through the weekend. Rain is looking likely again early next week. Highs will remain at or below normal for this time of year and mornings will be chilly
*Alerts in italicized text come from the National Weather Service, but may be reformatted.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 43ºF
HIGH: 61ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 38ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 22nd – 28th calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.
- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast into Winter: Weak La Niña
-Area drought status: “Extreme Drought” for the entire viewing area with the far southeastern corner of Monterey County and far eastern San Benito County considered “Exceptional Drought”
