Good Friday evening, Central Coast!
A cold, dry air mass keeps temperatures on the chilly side tonight with widespread frost in the valleys. Paso Robles, Santa Margarita, to the Cuyama valley will see widespread frost with clear skies and calm winds; there is good radiational cooling for frost to form. After a chilly start on Saturday, a warming trend will take hold through the weekend.
American Meteorological Society definition of radiational cooling. It typically occurs on calm, clear nights, whenever the longwave emission from the surface is not balanced by significant amounts of absorbed shortwave radiation or downwelling longwave radiationfrom the atmosphere above the surface, and there are no nonradiative sources of sufficient energy to make up the difference.
Average highs for this time of year are in the low to mid 60s, and the average lows are in the low 40s from Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo.
The average high temperature for Paso Robles is 64, and the average low is 38.
So Saturday is still below average. Sunday, we will have a cool start, but above-average highs.
Highs will stay below normal Saturday, then climb above normal Sunday and into Monday. By Monday, many areas could see temperatures 6 to 12 degrees above average.
Skies will range from mostly clear to partly cloudy, with no significant weather issues expected.
Overnight lows will stay chilly, though not quite as cold as recent mornings.
Looking ahead to next week, rain chances continue to fade. A weak system may bring light rain to the Central Coast — generally spotty amounts of a tenth of an inch or less Tuesday night into Wednesday— while most areas remain dry. Temperatures cool slightly on Tuesday and Wednesday, then warm again late in the week as dry conditions continue.
Have a great weekend, Central Coast!
-Jim
