Really, Rain? And the Chances are...

Okay, the curious weather is just getting a bit more curious.  At least this morning there were more patches of fog along the coast, but the west side of town sure had plenty of sun early this morning.  We were lucky enough to not see the sun rise over the Santa Cruz mountains.  Not that there was any fog blocking our view, just that the little guy actually slept in until 6:30.  Gotta get up pretty early this time of year.  So with no real June Gloom setting in, the powers of grey are taking another stab at it and sending us a winter like storm.  And these type of clouds like to drop some rain.  This system has been fueled by the tropics and is packing a bunch of moisture.  The Sierra Nevada will see upwards of two inches of rain.  If it were cold out, that would be two feet of snow, as in a big winter dump.  The bullseye is up near the border, in the State of Jefferson, where two and half inches are expected.  Let's look at the details for down in our area.

One of the great thing about the local beaches is all the wildlife one gets to enjoy.  

The rest of today looks pretty nice and should top out in the upper 70s, with just a moderate wind out on the water.  Should be real nice if you are tucked up in the northern end of the bay.  Overnight tonight the fog bank will get a little more push on its way in and should be well settled tomorrow morning.  The day should see some clearing, but high clouds will be developing near headlands and the local mountain peaks.  There could be a little rain squeezed out from these, but not really expecting much in the way of wide spread rain.  Chances for rain increase drastically as you head north and Pt. Arena should be seeing rain by evening time.  High of about 70F here in Santa Cruz.  Clouds continue to fill in and by Monday morning the sky should be pretty grey.  Increasing chances of rain during the day as the rain system moves over the northern end of the state.  I would not quite call it likely, but a good chance we will get rained on here in town sometime during the day Monday.  And it might just be a touch cooler, but really more from the cloud cover and not because of a cold core to the storm.

Perhaps some good news, other than the fact that we need the water anyway, is that this storm will not have a bunch of cold air or strong winds.  In fact, the winds will be a lot lighter than they have been recently.  The peak of this system will arrive around Monday night and we see a good chance for rain.  This storm is looking to track further south compared to my last posting.  Chance for rain continues through Tuesday, but falling off sharply after sunrise as the system begins to move north and east.  We could be spared as this storm is just barely coming across our zone.  About two inches of rain for Pt Arena, and inch for Pt Reyes, a half inch in Marin, a quarter inch in SF, a tenth of an inch here in Santa Cruz and less than that south of Monterey.  If you are going camping with me in Big Sur, I really think we should be spared, but pack a slicker, just incase.

Things should really clear out for Wednesday, and the rest of the week is looking pretty nice with a return to sunshine and upper 70s.  No real June Gloom in site.  You just will need to be ready for some sooner or later.  Hopefully the last three weeks in July when we will be in New England enjoying some humidity.  Oh, and there is some moderate swell on the way with a south starting to show Tuesday and possibly a northwest arriving on Wednesday.