December 1, 2020 – Persistent dry weather will continue with mostly clear skies and above average high temperatures. Breezy north to east winds are expected into Wednesday.
Discussion
Clear skies cover the region early this morning. North and east surface pressure gradients have been tightening since Monday evening, and the MFR-SAC gradient is up to about 8 mbs while the RNO-SAC gradient is 3 mbs. Locally breezy northerly winds have developed across the northern Sacramento Valley and surrounding terrain where gusts currently in the teens to mid 20s mph are pretty common. The gusty winds have resulted in milder temps in Redding and Red Bluff where readings are currently in the upper 40s to mid 50s. Further south, current temperatures across the Central Valley are in the mid to upper 30s.
Offshore (north to east) wind pattern will continue through the week. Breezy north winds will peak in the Sacramento Valley today, but locally gusty northeast winds will be possible each night and morning across the northern foothills through the remainder of the week.
Patchy morning frost will continue to be possible as this high pressure pattern remains in place, especially in the wind- sheltered portions along the eastern edge of the valley. Unseasonably mild days will persist through the week as highs will be around 5-10 degrees above average.
Extended discussion (Saturday through Tuesday)
Dry and mild weather will continue under ridging over the West Coast throughout the extended forecast period. There is high confidence we will likely remain dry with little day to day change for the first half of December as indicated by cluster analysis. We will continue to see above average high temperatures and cool morning lows, close to climatology. This pattern will also continue to yield inversions that will keep the upper foothills and lower mountain regions a bit warmer than average overnight.
Models continue to hint at a the potential for some mountain precipitation around December 10-11. Extended ensembles are suggesting a general pattern change sometime mid-month. Stay tuned to see how this trends.