The Central Coast is in the wake of a deep trough of low pressure which dramatically cooled temperatures yesterday.
Into Friday some weak ridging will take place and temperatures will recover a small amount. However, another trough digs in for the weekend to cool temperatures again, not "as" cool as conditions were Wednesday but cooler than average for many.
Enjoy the cool weather while it lasts because next week a ridge looks to re-develop and inland temperatures should again hit or be very near 100 by Wednesday.
Near the coast the night and morning low cloud regime continues with partial afternoon clearing. The weekend trough passage will deepen the marine influence and some coastal and beach temperatures will be quite cool in the 60s and some beaches may only top in the 50s this weekend.
Smoke continues to be a regional issue. This year California has seen more than a million acres burn and with a number of active and several new wildfires there is plenty of particulate matter in the air. The current pattern is delivering some N and NW flow which will continue to bring smoke and haze into the Central Coast and Central Valley. The Central Valley has an air quality alert into Friday, there is no alert for the Central Coast however conditions are not dramatically different. Smoke modeling shows more smoke wafting in into Friday.
Additionally there is a Beach Hazards Statement in place for the west-facing Central Coast:
Dangerous rip currents and breaking waves due to elevated surf of 5 to 8 feet. Minor tidal overflow is possible near the times of the high tides, especially the evening high tides.
We will have a 6.4 foot high tide around 815 PM PDT, then a 4.2 foot high tide at 1015 AM Friday, and a 6.5 foot high tide at 9 PM Friday.
Today the U.S. Drought Monitor weekly update was released and there was a very minor uptick in exceptional drought but no local changes.
