A Little Bit Warmer Now
Building high pressure will continue to deflect weather systems to our north in the coming days. The tail ends of these systems will bring clouds and maybe a few sprinkles to the area—perhaps late Wednesday and then again early Friday morning. All the while, temperatures will slowly warm. By Christmas weekend, expect mostly sunny skies and high temperatures 5-10ºF above normal. Even low temperatures will be much warmer than in recent days. Rain may finally return by mid-week next week. Stay tuned to the forecast, especially if you have travel plans.
AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups in the Santa Cruz Mountain Valleys.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy with passing high clouds, gradually clearing by the afternoon. Slightly warmer with coastal highs in the 50s to around 60ºF and 50s to low 60s inland. Breezy at times for inland valleys.
Overnight: Mostly clear with lows slightly cooler, but similar from the previous night. Mainly 40s around the coast, 30s inland. Patchy fog possible for valley locations before sunrise. Winds calm.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy with a chance of sprinkles late. Warmer yet with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Breezy at time for inland valleys.
Extended: The warming trend will continue more or less into the weekend. Partly cloudy skies will give way to mostly sunny conditions by Saturday with a dry and warm holiday on tap.
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 43ºF
HIGH: 61ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 62ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 27th – January 2nd calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.
- El Niño/La Niña STATUS: La Niña Advisory
- Forecast: Weak La Niña continues through winter, becomes neutral by Spring
-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”
