Heat continues, Sunday forecast Oct 6th

Our late season heat wave continues to bake our interior regions. Meanwhile, a very shallow and persistent coastal thermal inversion layer is keeping the immediate coast much cooler. Look for a similar pattern for Sunday with more 90's and 100's for interior areas while the beaches stay cooler with patchy fog. The fog could be dense with limited visibility and even some spotty drizzle early. Inland area temperatures will once again create Heat Advisory and Warning level conditions for most areas just off the coastal plains.

Looking ahead, a very weak area of low pressure will approach the coast by about Tuesday and this bring some relief as cooler air rushes in off the Pacific. That could also help to scour out the marine layer as we see a stronger northwesterly flow develop. This means our foggy beaches could actually see a very slight warm up with more sunshine. Further cooling is expected by late in the work week as another cold front rolls in off the Pacific. This second system could actually produce some light rain and high elevation snow in Northern California. The storm would then move farther east in to the Utah or Great Basin region and this could then help to produce our first real offshore or Santa Ana wind event by late next weekend. This would likely mean more warming, but more of a normal Fall like pattern which means our entire region warms again including our local beaches. With Santa Anas or Central Coast Santa Lucias, fire danger would likely become a big concern as well. We will need more time to see this develop via our long range forecast computers and will update as we head in to and through next week.