March 13, 2019 – Dry weather into early next week with some breezy north to east wind lingering today. Next chance of precipitation Tuesday.
Discussion
Clear skies across the region now in the wake of the strong short-wave that moved through late Tuesday. Northerly surface gradients have tightened resulting in breezy northwest winds through the Central Valley and northeast winds across the northern Sierra Nevada with gusts of 20-30 mph. Current temperatures range from the teens and 20s in the mountains to the upper 30s to around 50 across the Central Valley.
Breezy conditions will continue today before decreasing somewhat across most of the region tonight (locally gusty east wind is expected to linger across the high Sierra tonight). Gusts of 25-35 mph can be expected in the windier locales. Highs today expected to be a little cooler compared to Tuesday with cold-advection lingering through the day.
Upper ridge moves overhead Thursday resulting in lighter winds and gradually milder temperatures heading into the weekend. Some increase in cloudiness is expected later Thursday into Friday as a system weakens moving into the ridge.
Extended Discussion (Sunday through Wednesday)
Mid-level ridging briefly breaks down on Sunday as a shortwave moves across the Pacific Northwest, before amplified ridging returns early next week across the west coast. In NorCal, dry weather and warmer temperatures will be seen Sunday and Monday with highs in the Valley reaching into the 70s with some mountain locations up into the 50s.
On Tuesday, a trough approaches the western CONUS bringing precipitation chances back into the forecast through Wednesday. Newest model guidance supports a cut off low forming Tuesday evening and moving southeast along the coast. Depending on where this forms, there remains the potential for a majority of precipitation with this feature to remain west of the area. Temperatures cool slightly Tuesday and Wednesday, but still look to remain slightly warmer than normal for this time of year.