A Bit Less Hot & Humid

WEATHER STORY
We are in the middle of our dry season, but we’ve been talking about moisture an awful lot lately! Monsoon moisture has been the main event, sending clouds and even a few showers through our area on recent days. For the rest of the week, we’ll be on the edge of the monsoon moisture plume which means occasional high clouds and slightly elevated humidity. As for temperatures, we’ll likely see seasonable to slightly warm conditions as the overall air mass remains warm. With the monsoon moisture in place, we can never really rule out an isolated shower or thunderstorm day to day. Eyes will be on the pulses of convection to our east and whether they can make it all the way to us. There are some indications one such pulse may graze us late Thursday into Friday. Storm chances still remain low, however.

AIR QUALITY: GOOD

Thursday: Low clouds clearing to the coast and then lingering on the south side of the bay. Mostly sunny elsewhere with high clouds moving in from the southeast at times. Expect coastal highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s with upper 70s to around 100ºF inland. Windy for inland valleys in the afternoon and evening.

Overnight: Low clouds will take over Monterey Bay and will find their way inland through the valleys. A few waves of high clouds will likely pass by. Mild overall and less muggy with most lows expected to be in the upper 50s.

Friday: Low clouds clearing to the coast and then lingering on the south side of the bay. Partly cloudy elsewhere with high clouds and a chance of an isolated shower or thunderstorm over the Diablo Range. Highs in the 60s-70s on the coast and 70s-90s inland. Windy for inland valleys in the afternoon and evening.
 
Extended: We’ll remain on the edge of the monsoon plume into next week which will keep a very small chance of showers in the forecast, though no particular day looks better than any other. For the most part, expect dry and slightly warm conditions.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 55ºF
HIGH: 70ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 53ºF
HIGH: 86ºF

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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for August 11^th - 17^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: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast: Weak La Niña into the Fall

-Area drought status: “Severe Drought” for most of the viewing area with “Extreme Drought” in southern San Benito and southeastern Monterey Counties. The southeastern third of San Benito County has been upgraded to “Exceptional Drought”