Brace yourself for a brisk weekend

[Lorah]

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081212/NEWS/812120292/1350?Title=Brace_yourself_for_a_brisk_weekend


BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR R

[Colleen&Kail]

its soooooo cold right now!

[barb]

That's warm!!! :)

It's currently 36, tonight will be 26. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 29 and Sunday's will be 25, but it'll be sunny too. We get warm (40+) when it rains and cold when it's sunny. Go figure.

[becky]

yay rain. i just hope we get some real rain vs the light crap.

[Leigh]

(Source: http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/95436?phenomena=TSL&significance=S&areaid=CAZ506&office=KMTR&etn=7f3635035cb8172ce35c09938fce6de101906ef7)

Issued by The National Weather Service
San Francisco/Monterey, CA
4:49 pm PST, Fri., Dec. 12, 2008

... MUCH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND SHOWERY WEATHER STARTING THIS WEEKEND AND CONTINUING FOR MOST OF NEXT WEEK...

... POTENTIAL FOR SNOW ON BAY AREA HILLS FROM SUNDAY THROUGH MIDWEEK...


A STRONG COLD FRONT IS NOW MOVING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA USHERING IN MUCH COLDER AIR AND WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS. THIS FRONT WILL RAPIDLY MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT BRINGING BRIEF SHOWERS AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH. SATURDAY WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF AN EXTENDED COLD AND VERY UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN. THE MAIN IMPACTS FROM THIS DRAMATIC WEATHER CHANGE ARE LISTED BELOW.

... TEMPERATURES...

TEMPERATURES WILL BE RUNNING FROM 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FROM SUNDAY THROUGH ALL IF NOT MOST OF NEXT WEEK. DAYTIME HIGHS WILL STRUGGLE TO GET OUT OF THE 40S WITH MANY AREAS AROUND THE BAY SEEING HIGHS OF 40 TO 45 DEGREES. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL DROP ONLY INTO THE UPPER 30S AS CLOUD COVER AND NUMEROUS SHOWERS WILL HELP KEEP THE TEMPERATURES FROM FALLING TO LOW. BY MIDWEEK A POTENTIAL BREAK IN PRECIPITATION COULD ALLOW OVERNIGHT LOWS TO DROP INTO THE 20S WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY MORNINGS. THESE TEMPERATURES MAY APPROACH RECORDS FOR THE DATES. PERSONS IN THE FORECAST AREA SHOULD MAKE SURE HEATERS ARE IN PROPER WORKING ORDER. NEVER BRING CHARCOAL BARBEQUE'S INSIDE FOR ANY REASON. THOSE WHO HAVE ELDERLY LIVING ALONE WHO MAY NOT WANT TO TURN ON HEATERS SHOULD CHECK ON THEM REGULARLY OR HAVE THEM RELOCATE TO A WARMER LOCATION DURING THIS EXTENDED COLD PERIOD. IT ONLY TAKES A FEW DAYS FOR INSIDE TEMPERATURES TO DROP TO UNSAFE LEVELS WHEN OUTSIDE TEMPERATURES DO NOT CLIMB OUT OF THE 40S.


... RAINFALL...

SCATTERED SHOWERS ON SATURDAY WILL TRANSITION TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS BY SUNDAY AS THE UPPER-LEVEL COLD SYSTEM MOVES CLOSER TO THE AREA. EXPECT SHOWERS TO CONTINUE THROUGH MOST OF TUESDAY BEFORE DECREASING. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL AVERAGE ABOUT ONE-QUARTER TO ONE-HALF INCH PER DAY FROM SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THUS 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN BY WEDNESDAY MORNING IS POSSIBLE WITH 2 TO 3 INCHES IN NW FACING UPPER ELEVATIONS. ANOTHER WETTER SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK. BURN AREAS IN SANTA CRUZ AND MONTEREY COUNTIES DO NOT APPEAR TO BE AT RISK FOR FLASH FLOODING OR DEBRIS FLOWS DURING THESE FIRST COLD EVENTS. BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK HOWEVER THE THREAT INCREASES. PERSONS LIVING NEAR THE SUMMIT AND BASIN COMPLEX FIRES SHOULD MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS CLOSELY OVER THE NEXT WEEK. SNOW AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE SUMMIT AND BASIN COMPLEX BURN AREAS THAT ACCUMULATES OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS COULD CONTRIBUTE TO INCREASED RUNOFF AS TEMPERATURES WARM AND RAIN FALLS AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS WITH THE POTENTIAL WARMER STORMS LATE NEXT WEEK.


... SNOWFALL...

SNOW LEVELS WILL START OUT ABOUT 3000 FT SATURDAY BUT FALL TO 2500 FT ON SUNDAY AND 1500 TO 2000 FT ON MONDAY. THIS WILL IMPACT TRAFFIC ALONG HWY 35... SKYLINE BLVD... FROM HWY 84 TO HWY 17 AND THE SUMMIT OF HWY 17. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL MOST LIKELY BE NEEDED FOR THESE AREAS BEGINNING LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. BASED ON THE TRAJECTORY OF THE UPPER LOW THIS MAY NEED TO BE INCREASED TO A WINTER STORM WARNING IF THE LOW TRACKS FURTHER TO THE WEST. ELEVATIONS ABOVE 3000 FT COULD SEE 1 TO 2 FEET OF SNOW BY WEDNESDAY MORNING.

... WINDS...

WINDS WILL BE GUSTY WITH THE COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE THIS EVENING WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH POSSIBLE. WINDS WILL CONTINUE BREEZY THROUGH THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS STRONG NORTHWEST FLOW SETS UP OVER THE STATE. THESE WINDS WILL AGGRAVATE THE COLD TEMPERATURES MAKING IT FEEL EVEN COLDER THAN THE ACTUAL TEMPERATURE. HYPOTHERMIA IS A REAL POSSIBILITY UNDER THESE TYPES OF CONDITIONS SO DRESS WARM AND STAY DRY IF VENTURING OUTSIDE FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.

... SURF AND HIGH TIDES...

THIS STORM WILL GENERATE MODERATE NW SWELLS ALONG THE COAST WHICH WILL HIT THE COAST STARTING TOMORROW. ALONG WITH THIS THE HIGHEST TIDES OF THE YEAR WILL PEAK TOMORROW MORNING AT 11 AM OF 7 FT AT THE GOLDEN GATE. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF SOME MINOR COASTAL FLOODING TOMORROW MORNING. PERSONS SHOULD STAY TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTION IF VENTURING NEAR THE COAST OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS GIVEN THE HIGH TIDES COMBINED WITH SOME LARGE OCEAN SWELLS.