Damp Weather Kicks Off the Work Week
Rain returns to the region on Monday, but this time, the weather system will be pretty weak. Light to briefly moderate rain will arrive around the bay from late morning into the early afternoon and be accompanied by breezy conditions at best. Rain ends by the evening for all areas with warmer weather to follow through mid-week.
AIR QUALITY: Good to Moderate
This Morning: Passing high clouds with some low cloudcover developing by dawn. Patchy fog in southern valleys. Cool start to the day, with coastal lows in the upper 30s to mid-40s and upper 20s to upper 30s inland.
Monday: Increasing clouds through late morning. A cold front will bring light rain to the area from late morning into the early afternoon. Most areas should be dry by 4PM, though some southern inland areas will continue to see some light rain. Partial clearing late but patchy fog possible. Expect coastal highs in the mid to upper 50s with mid-50s to mid-60s inland. Breezy southerly winds on the exposed coast before and along frontal passage.
Tuesday: Patchy AM fog. Then, partly cloudy on the coast with highs in the 60s and mostly sunny inland with highs in the 60s to around 70ºF. Breezy up-valley winds late in the day.
Extended: Dominates with light offshore flow for the remainder of the week. Highs should be 5-10ºF through the duration. The next weather system arrives on Saturday with rain and wind. Details are a bit obscure at the moment.
*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
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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 42ºF
HIGH: 59ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 60ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for December 23rd – 29th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and ABOVE normal precipitation.
- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña into the fall and persist through the winter months.
- Area drought status: Abnormally dry for areas around Monterey Bay northward. Drought-free elsewhere
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of December 16th : 55.1ºF (avg of 7 buoys) [December Average: 55.0ºF]
