Drier Friday, Rain Returns this Weekend

The moisture plume that fed Thursday’s system will actually begin to swing back to the north. High clouds will return and eventually rain will reach southern Monterey County late Friday. The plume will keep pushing north toward Monterey Bay by Saturday morning. The coastal mountains of Monterey County should pick up a couple more inches of rain while valleys will be dealing with rain-shadowing. Lesser amounts are currently expected north of the bay, but if the plume does push far enough north, that may have to be adjusted. A secondary cold front will then approach, pushing through on Sunday with another period of light to moderate rain and potentially gusty winds. Showers will likely follow all the way into Monday before we finally dry out. All the while, temperatures will remain well below normal.

AIR QUALITY: Good

Friday: Mostly sunny with clouds slowly returning to the south later in the day and light rain returning to southern Monterey County in the evening. Cool, with highs mainly in the 50s for most areas and only 40s up in the hills.

Overnight: Clouds will continue to be on the increase and by morning we'll be mostly cloudy. Light to moderate rain will slowly spread from south to north. Lows will be slightly warmer, with mostly 40s along the coast. Mid to upper 30s and low 40s inland.

Saturday: Rain will be more focused on the coastal mountains and rain-shadowing will limit precipitation for valleys and even the south side of the bay. Cool and breezy at times—even occasionally windy on the exposed coast. Highs in the 50s.

Extended: We’ll get another round of rain on Sunday followed by showers into Monday. Highs remain in the 50s with lows in the 30s-40s. We’ll slowly clear through the week with cool temperatures.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 43ºF
HIGH: 62ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 38ºF
HIGH: 63ºF

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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 9^th – 15^th calls for the likelihood of BELOW normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.

- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast: Weak La Niña into the Winter

-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”