Good Monday evening, Central Coast!
THIS WEEK'S WEATHER PATTERN
Quiet, seasonal weather dominates this week across the Central Coast. Expect typical late-April conditions, with breezy west-to-northwest winds affecting coastal areas and interior valleys at times.
Cool conditions continue this evening with breezy winds along the coast and through interior areas, including the Santa Lucia Mountains and Santa Ynez Mountains. Mostly clear tonight with lows in the low to mid 40s. Weak offshore flow patterns will bring noticeable warming by Tuesday.
Wednesday, a weak atmospheric trough moving through the region may trigger isolated afternoon and evening showers, primarily focused on interior sections of both counties. The Los Padres National Forest areas have a slight chance for shower activity. There's a 5 to 10 percent chance of thunderstorms developing.
Any thunderstorms that form could produce brief heavy downpoOn urs and cloud-to-ground lightning strikes. The combination of late April sunshine and atmospheric instability creates these isolated shower chances.
Thursday sees breezy west to northwest winds returning as the weak weather system moves through, followed by several degrees of warming away from immediate coastal areas.
EXTENDED OUTLOOK (Friday through Monday)
High pressure builds in Friday and Saturday, bringing 2 to 4 degrees of warming region-wide. The Central Coast will see slightly less warming due to continued onshore flow. Maximum temperatures will run 2 to 4 degrees above normal everywhere except right at the beaches.
Moderate onshore flow continues, supporting the return of night and morning low clouds and fog along the coast.
Weekend into Next Week
Sunday brings significant changes with forecast models showing a 4 to 8 degree cooldown as atmospheric heights lower and strong onshore flow develops. Gusty afternoon winds are expected across mountain areas, including the Santa Lucia and Santa Ynez ranges.
There's a chance for light rainfall Sunday night through Monday of next week, though details need to be ironed out.
Have a great evening, Central Coast!
-Jim
