Rain late Wednesday and into Thursday. Clearing after.

So we are in a bit of an odd week, with anther storm brewing just off the BC coast and wanting to push south and upon us.  Instead, Sandy out east is pushing west, not allowing our current weak high pressure to move east, and in the end, making it act like a strong high pressure.  Unfortunately, it is slowing the advance of this storm, and weaken it as it approaches.  I say this unfortunate, because in another scenario, this thing would sweep over us pretty quickly, and get hung up in the Sierra for a day, giving us more base building snow.  What we get is rain on the coast, warm temperatures and maybe a few inches right along the crest.  Rain on our new snow pack would pretty much be the suck.

Early morning in Santa Cruz County, looking south toward Monterey.

Thick fog cleared out mid morning on the west side, and things are warming up nicely.  Expect the more of the same tomorrow.  Highs just above 70F and lows almost down to 50F.  Wednesday cools with the approaching system, but not too much.  I don't think it is going to feel wintery, like last week did.  Mid 60s.  The bulk of the rain is going to fall along the Northern California coast.  Marin and points south should see the rain move through on Thursday.  Showery weather could slow the roads.  San Mateo county and points north could see up to half an inch in the morning.  Current models suggest we are only looking at about a tenth of an inch here in Santa Cruz, as this clears out by Thursday night.  Still, depending on what Sandy does, timing could be slowed down.  Expect snow up above 8000 feet to last through Thursday night.  Total accumulation will be about 3", up high.  Rain at lake level.

After that we should be back into the mid 70's by the weekend, and today's charts suggest a nice solid high pressure setting up on us.  And a good swell making machine for a week plus.  Fingers crossed.  We could use some waves.  And fine weather.  A return to the 80s in 10 days is not out of the question.