Gray Skies for Days… Well a Few More Days
Deep, cool southwest flow will continue for the next day or so with a trough of low pressure moving through. Enhanced lift and upslope flow will squeeze drizzle (at time bordering on light rain) from the clouds in the Santa Cruz Mountains with patchy drizzle possible elsewhere. This southwesterly flow will be gusty at times at the surface and will likely once again clear out the southeast corner of Monterey Bay during the afternoon Tuesday. The trough then passes by into Thursday with flow switching to the northwest. This northwest flow may then produce some drizzle on the south/west sides of the bay Thursday and there will be a slight chance of a shower over the inland hills. A perhaps better, but not great chance of rain will come on Friday as a weather system passes through from the northwest. While we’ll be on the “dry side,” there still should be some showers in our vicinity.
AIR QUALITY: Good
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy for the coastal mountains but partly cloudy on the coast with afternoon clearing on the southeast side of the bay. Becoming mostly sunny inland. Highs in the mid 50s to mid 60s on the coast and upper 50s to low 70s inland. Gusty southwesterly onshore and up valley winds at times.
Overnight: Low clouds will return to cleared areas of the bay and near coastal cities heading into the evening, before moving inland overnight. Widespread low clouds will mean mostly cloudy skies. Mild lows in the low to mid 50s at the coast, mid to upper 40s inland. Drizzle for the coastal mountains with patchy drizzle for costal areas/ cities.
Wednesday: Patchy coastal/coastal mountain drizzle early, then becoming partly cloudy with a few sprinkles in the coastal mountains. Highs in the upper 50s to mid 60s on the coast and 60s to low 70s inland.
Extended: Winds switch back to the northwest on Thursday and will be gusty at times. Clouds will switch positions in the bay with clearing in the north and clouding and potential drizzle in the south. Scattered clouds inland may result in a few sprinkles for the inland mountains as well. A weather system then passes by on Friday with more northwesterly wind gusts and the potential for a few showers. The weekend looking a little nicer, trending dryer and seasonable.
*Note: Any alerts from the National Weather Service in Monterey will be noted in italics above. Alerts may be edited for brevity or local clarification (in parenthesis).
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 47ºF
HIGH: 64ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 42ºF
HIGH: 71ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for April 30th – May 6th calls for the likelihood of near normal temperatures and near normal precipitation.
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: El Niño Advisory, La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition from El Niño to neutral by Spring and then to La Niña by summer.
-Area drought status: Currently drought-free
