Eye on the tropics, Sunday July 19th forecast

Our recent run of hot weather is now behind us and a mostly quiet weather pattern has taken hold.  We do have to keep a close eye on the Pacific Ocean and tropical systems moving up from the south. Strong wind from Tropical Storm Elida has generated a large southerly swell which is expected to arrive by late Sunday. A High Surf Advisory will be in effect by Sunday evening which means waves could exceed 6 to 8 feet along our south facing coastline.

Look for fog and low clouds, which could be dense for some areas, to develop through the late evening and in to early Sunday. Temperatures on Sunday will be very warm inland with highs expected in the 80's to very low 90's. Coastal areas will see the morning clouds early and then should see hazy sunshine by the afternoon with highs mostly in the 70's.

Looking ahead, we will continue to see a fairly seasonal pattern through about mid week when building high pressure will warm things up again. We could see a few areas topping out close to 100 degrees before taking a slight dip on Friday and then warming again next weekend. Coastal areas will continue to see the daily routine of late night and early morning fog and mostly mild temperatures. Winds could be gusty for the Gaviota region during the late afternoon and early evening, but should stay below advisory levels. The only forecast variable next week that will need to be watched closely day to day, will be the tropical systems moving from the south. Elida, Fausto and possibly even Genvieve will drift to our south and then west all week long. We are not seeing any significant threats for rain t this time. But this will need to be monitored daily and of course, we will here in the Newschannel weather center.

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