textproduct: Eureka

SYNOPSIS

Friday is expected to be dry with gradual clearing skies although temperatures remain slightly below seasonal normals. A warming and drying trended is expected for the weekend and peaking early next week.

KEY MESSAGES

-Slightly cooler than normal conditions with marine influence pushing inland through Saturday.

-Light coastal drizzle possible Saturday morning.

-Warmer and drier conditions build Sunday through most of next week.

DISCUSSION

Low pressure finally beginning to drift east has mostly shutoff the flow of unstable moisture into the area. A very weak pulse of high pressure building over the area will help to warm and dry conditions Friday for the interior. Along the coast, high pressure will contrast with a quickly approaching shortwave, helping to generate moderate to strong north winds. Winds will help push marine influence inland, keeping conditions relatively cooler and moire moist than is normal for the start of summer. There is a very slight chance (10%) of weak showers isolated to the highest terrain this afternoon. For the interior, onshore flow and more stable conditions has helped reform a stronger and shallow marine layer. This layer is most likely to only partially mix out during the day Friday.

Saturday another shortwave trough is expected to move inland. Currently it looks like this wave will move through early in the morning. This may bring some drizzle to the coast in the morning. Farther inland there is the potential for a thunderstorm or two, but at this point it looks like these will be moving east and quickly out of the area if anything does form. This will generally keep inland temperatures below seasonal normals and in the 70s. Skies are expected to clear out through the day and winds, especially at the coast are expected to increase. Currently winds are expected to peak on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday and into early next week high pressure is expected to build into the area. This will bring a return to above normal temperatures and offshore flow. The offshore flow will be strongest in Humboldt and Del Norte counties and should be enough to keep skies clear at the coast. Highs are expected to be in the 80s on Sunday warming to around 90 on Monday. Lows will continue to drop into the 50s each night in the valleys. Tuesday the ridge axis is expected to slowly move to the east and this may allow a return of stratus along the coast. Inland temperatures will still mainly be around 90. Wednesday the flow aloft becomes more zonal as a shortwave moves by to the north. Any precip associated with this is expected to remain north of the area. The ensemble clusters show some disagreement in how deep this trough will be with one cluster bringing some precip as far south as the southern Oregon coast. This would keep the temperatures cooler than currently expected. The majority of the cluster solutions keep the precip farther north and highs would likely remain in the 80s. MKK / JHW

AVIATION

Recent moisture combined with a reforming marine inversion has helped support IFR ceilings and visibilities along the coast overnight. Though possible, true LIFR conditions are unlikely (20% chance) through the early morning hours. Onshore flow and weak high pressure will likely help keep the marine layer strong tomorrow. Chances are 50-50 for their to be at least a couple hours of clearing in the afternoon. Even if there is no clearing, lifting to MVFR at least can be expected. There is greater uncertainty for Friday night. A Persistent marine layer could drop to IFR but an approaching shortwave may also help lift skies back out to MVFR. The chances for this lifting will be greater later into the night. /JHW

MARINE

Despite weak winds, a persistent northwest swell has kept seas moderately steep overnight. Moderately steep seas and weak winds will continue through Friday morning. Moderate to strong north winds will begin to build into the outer waters during the day and push closer to shore by mid day Saturday. Short period seas will quickly steepen back over 10 feet. North winds will continue to increase through the weekend with gale conditions in the outer waters likely Sunday. The existing northwest swell will decay out of the waters by late Friday, allowing for short period seas to dominate the sea state. Winds will weaken slightly but most likely remain moderate early next week. /JHW

EKA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

CA... None. NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATERS... Small Craft Advisory from 3 AM Saturday to 8 AM PDT Sunday for PZZ450.

Small Craft Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 8 AM PDT Sunday for PZZ455.

Small Craft Advisory from 2 PM this afternoon to 8 PM PDT Saturday for PZZ470.

Gale Watch from Saturday evening through late Sunday night for PZZ470.

Small Craft Advisory from 9 AM this morning to 2 PM PDT Saturday for PZZ475.

Gale Watch from Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening for PZZ475.