A Few More Clouds, and a Touch Cooler Tuesday

Your forecast for Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and southern Santa Clara Counties…

Temperatures will cool but winds will ease as we head toward mid-week. The strong storm system well to our north that helped increase the pressure gradient and up the wind game in our area over the past few days will move farther east. This should relax the winds over the region through mid-week. Weak troughing will remain on the West Coast through the end of the week however. Cooler temperatures can be expected both on the coast and inland because of the trough, but coastal temps will also cool down because of a more stable marine layer developing. That will mean the return of low clouds to our daytime forecasts, especially on the south half of the bay Wed/Thu.

AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate

Tuesday: Mostly clear early, then increasing clouds late in the day. Cooler, with coastal highs in the low 60s to mid 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and mid70s to upper 80s inland Breezy northwesterly onshore winds becoming stronger in the valleys later in the day. Low clouds on the coast possible late.

***GALE WARNING***
…for the near coastal waters from Point Pinos to Point Piedras Blancas from 3PM Tuesday until 3AM Wednesday.

*Northwest winds 15 to 25 kt with gusts up to 35 kt

*Strong winds will cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility.

Mariners should alter plans to avoid these hazardous conditions. Remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, and/or secure the vessel for severe conditions.

Overnight: Low clouds return. Expect partly to mostly cloudy conditions at the coast. Inland, partly cloudy for some valley locations, to mostly clear skies with a high clouds passing through. More cloud cover will mean slightly warmer temps in the upper 40s to low 50s across the region. Patchy fog possible near toward dawn.

Wednesday: Widespread low clouds early with a spritz of drizzle possible. Then, becoming partly cloudy with low clouds lingering on the south/east sides of the bay. Cooler with highs in the 60s to low 70s—warmest on the north side of the bay—and low 70s to mid 80s inland. Breezy northwesterly onshore  winds becoming gusty up valleys late in the day.

Extended: We’ll have another day of cooler temperatures and low clouds on the coast Thursday, then temperatures will begin to swing back upward into the weekend with reduced cloudcover on the coast. Strengthening high pressure to our south will begin to exert its influence on us, sending inland temperatures (especially) back above normal Friday-Sunday.

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 68ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 50ºF
HIGH: 82ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for June 26^th -  July 1^st calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal* precipitation.
*Note: little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña by late summer.
- Area drought status: Currently drought-free
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature* as of June 18^th: 55.8ºF
(Historic June AVG: 56.7ºF) -- *average of three buoys