Beautiful, Brisk Monday
A cold and drying air mass is settling in behind Sunday’s cold front that brought the Central Coast rain. Monday will be beautiful, just cool and breezy. Chilly temps are still to come Tuesday morning. With the air sufficiently dried, mostly clear skies leading to radiational cooling, and an already chilly air mass, the stage is set for a cold, frosty morning. Patchy frost will be possible all the way into coastal communities while many inland valley bottoms will see widespread frost and perhaps freezing conditions. Temps will then slowly warm into the new year.
AIR QUALITY: Good
Monday: A few low clouds may linger around inland valleys, otherwise mostly sunny to partly cloudy with scattered high clouds passing through. Cool, with highs in the mid 50s to low 60s. Breezy northerly winds at times.
***FREEZE WARNING***
…for MONTEREY COUNTY: higher terrain & southern valleys
…for SAN BENITO COUNTY: higher terrain & southern valleys
…for SANTA CLARA COUNTY: Santa Clara Valley & Diablo range
… in effect from 8PM Monday until 10AM Tuesday
*Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing. Cold conditions will be hazardous to sensitive populations such as unhoused individuals. Cold Conditions can lead to hypothermia with prolonged exposure.
Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.
To prevent water pipes from freezing; wrap or drain or allow them to drip slowly.
Be sure to turn off sprinklers ahead of sub-freezing temperatures to avoid creating ice patches on driveways and sidewalks.
Be sure to cover or tend to sensitive plants and vegetation as they may be damaged by frost.
Be sure to open sink cabinet doors and/or drip faucets. This may help reduce or prevent damage to uninsulated pipes and other plumbing.
**FROST ADVISORY**
…for MONTEREY COUNTY: Lower elevation valleys and coastal areas
…for SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: all areas
…for SAN BENITO COUNTY: Lower elevation valleys
…for SANTA CLARA COUNTY: Santa Cruz Mountains
… in effect from 8PM Monday until 10PM Tuesday
Frost could harm sensitive outdoor vegetation. Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left uncovered. Cold conditions will be hazardous to sensitive populations such as unhoused individuals. Cold Conditions can lead to hypothermia with prolonged exposure.
Take steps now to protect tender plants from the cold.
Be sure to turn off sprinklers ahead of sub-freezing temperatures to avoid creating ice patches on driveways and sidewalks.
Be sure to cover or tend to sensitive plants and vegetation as they may be damaged by frost.
Overnight: Cold lows with valleys and far interior locations dipping into the upper 20s to low 30s. Coastal areas, mostly 30s to 40°F. Mostly clear skies. Patchy frost near the coast, frost and freeze conditions inland. Light north wind.
Tuesday (New Year’s Eve): Cold in the morning widespread frost and freeze conditions inland and patchy frost all the way to the coast. Then, mostly sunny but slightly cool with highs in the mid-50s to low 60s. Breezy northerly winds on the exposed coast during the afternoon.
Extended: High pressure slowly builds in from the south as we enter the new year. Expect another chilly morning on Wednesday, likely almost as cold as Tuesday. However, afternoon temps will creep upward, a trend which will continue into Thursday where most areas will be about 5ºF above normal. Clouds increase Thursday into Friday as a weather system brushes by to the north. It may dip south enough to bring some light rain & wind late in the day Friday or perhaps into early Saturday morning. Longer term trends show high pressure returning into the next week with (mostly) dry conditions continuing.
*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: 60ºF
--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 37ºF
HIGH: 61ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for January 6th – 13th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and BELOW 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 San Benito County, northeastern Monterey County and eastern Santa Clara County. Drought-free elsewhere
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature as of December 29th : 55.6ºF (avg of 7 buoys) [December Average: 55.0ºF]
