A few showers will linger over the northern Sierra early this morning, otherwise dry and warmer weather lies ahead. Breezy northerly winds will spread through the Central Valley today resulting in enhanced fire weather conditions.
Discussion
Upper trough and surface cold front are moving to the east early this morning and have nearly exited NorCal. Radar shows scattered showers remaining over the northern Sierra, mainly to the south of I-80. QPF was pretty decent over the mountains with most of the west slopes of the Sierra/Cascades north of Tahoe receiving around 1/4 to 1/2 inch of rain, with local amounts approaching 3/4`s of an inch. Rain was much more sparse in the Sacramento Valley with most locales reporting only a few hundredths of an inch north of Sacramento.
Another batch of mid and high clouds will move over the southern half of the forecast area this morning as another vort moves through the base of the trough. Not expecting any showers with these, but cloudiness may linger across the Sacramento and Stockton region until midday.
Dry northerly flow will develop over NorCal today as the trough shifts east. Gusts of 15-25 mph along with lowering RH will result in enhanced fire weather conditions through most of the Central Valley where little or no rain fell, and a Red Flag Warning has been posted.
Otherwise, dry and warmer weather is expected across the region through the remainder of the week. Northerly breezes will continue Wednesday, but aren`t expected to be quite as strong as today. Temperatures will warm to around 5-10 degrees above average for the end of the week with highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s forecast across the valley.
Extended Discussion (Saturday through Tuesday)
Ensembles and clusters in good agreement with weak flow pattern developing over NorCal this weekend into next week, as broad ridging develops. Weak trough along the west coast will likely cut-off within the ridge and drift south towards SoCal through the period. Dry conditions with near to slightly above normal temperatures and light winds are expected in this pattern.