First Day of Winter will be Sunny and Seasonable
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 Thursday and then again 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
Wednesday: Plenty of sunshine this afternoon, and warmer with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Breezy at time for inland valleys.
Overnight: Mostly clear to start with increasing clouds. Lows will be warmer with more clouds in the area by sunrise. Mainly 40s, 30s for interior valley locations.
Thursday: Patchy fog early. Mostly cloudy, with a sprinkle or two possible as a weak system to the north passes. Temperatures slightly cooler across the Central Coast, with mid and upper 50s to low 60s. Winds calm.
Extended: Partly cloudy skies will give way to mostly sunny conditions by Saturday with a dry and warm holiday on tap. The warming trend will continue more or less into the holiday weekend. Rain chances return to the forecast next week.
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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 28th – January 3rd 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”
