More fair days ahead. Rain seems unlikely.

Scenic Highway 1.  Scotts Creek Bridge.

The clouds have cleared after a cool and damp day on Monday.  We had a decent drizzle overnight Sunday here in Santa Cruz.  Still, not really enough water to talk much about.  Just enough to reconstitute the ground.  Sun is the name of the game moving through the next few days.  Expect highs to be around 60F and lows in the upper 30s.  Light winds as well.  All in all, quite nice out there.  We still have a system to watch for this coming Thursday, but as we get closer it looks like there is some agreement on the storm remaining mostly to our north, with perhaps the lowest portion of the through moving through our region.  Most of the energy moves east of the region well north of us.  And it is not particularly impressive as it is.  Just a small, compact and swift low.

Through the week, temperatures stay about the same.  Showers, if they do come, will fill in on Thursday and be mostly to our east by evening.  Some areas could see drizzle linger overnight.  But unless there is a course change in the next 48 hours, precipitation will be light and brief.  Things clear out pretty quickly and we see a good amount of sun on Friday.  The weekend looks like another great one for outdoor adventure. Crisp, cool (okay, maybe more like cold) and clear mornings that warm quickly in the sun.  Highs just about 60 down here on the coast.  And it looks like we may get another solid swell for Sunday.  Mostly utility stuff before that and through this week.

Now, that is not good news for the snow.  At least we have some cold temps on tap, so those who wish to, can blow some snow.  Northstar keeps topping the list, and now has the backside open.  Long runs with good surface conditions.  Kirkwood has two runs off Chair 5 going, and reports are coming back very good.  They are shutting the lift down for an hour to do a noon groom.  And they have cheap lift tickets and $2 IPAs.  Looks like they will be getting a run off Chair 11 open soon.  Oh, and they are running weekends only right now.  Heavenly gets a third place with much more terrain open than Kirkwood, but the crowds keeps the runs well scraped after the early morning.  Other resorts are up and running on limited terrain, and it looks to remain so for the near term.  This week, they hope for even a few inches of the real stuff to supplement the slopes.  I'll put up a holiday ski report later this week, with a long term forecast or guesscast.

Entering the bay and returning home at sunset.  West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz.

For now smooth sailing.  So get out and enjoy the best that fall has to offer here on the Central Coast.  If you do not love to hike, bike, surf or other active sweaty type thing.  And you just want to avoid the yard work, then think of something to do to enjoy the weather.  Great weekend for a drive around a valley sipping different wines.  For instance.