April showers and wind in the forecast, April 18th

We are beginning to see the first signs of a strengthening onshore flow which will bring in cooler weather and even chances for showers next week. For the overnight and in to early Sunday look for mostly clear skies early and then patchy fog will develop along our coast, especially north of Point Conception. Overnight lows will be mostly in the 50's to near 60 degrees. For Sunday, patchy fog will likely burn off for most areas by the late morning. Look for temperatures to be mostly in the 60's and lower 70's with light to moderate westerly winds in the afternoon.

Looking ahead, a late season Winter storm will bring more clouds, cooler temperatures and showers by Tuesday. The storm is expected to drop southward which means that the bulk of the moisture will focus north of Point Conception. The accompanying air mass will not only be wet, but chilly as well. This means that snow will be possible for some mountain areas that reach above 6500 feet. There is enough energy with this system that a slight chance for thunderstorms can't be ruled out through early Wednesday. As is always the case with late season storms, exact trajectory and amount of rain projections will likely change through Monday. For now, we see about a quarter to half an inch for our northern areas and less for areas to the south of Point Conception. As the storm begins to exit quickly on Wednesday, a strong pressure gradient or difference will exit between low and high pressure. This means gusty northerly winds for Wednesday and possibly Thursday. We could see Wind Advisory level northwesterly winds for just about all areas. Temperatures will stay on the cool side through mid week and then should gradually warm a few degrees by the start of next weekend.

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