This is What Cold Feels Like.

Mid 30s on the west side this morning.  Several areas around town are showing sub freezing temperatures.  There is a fairly big range.  Rio Del Mar, on the water, is one of the warmest spots around at 40F.  Nearby, on the cliff, near State Park Drive in Aptos, it is only 30F.  Market Street in Santa Cruz is also cold this morning.  Eduardo Avenue in Ben Lomond is the coldest I've seen, with a reading of 24F.  Oddly, some of the low lying areas off Branciforte, which can get consistently cold come winter, are all showing temperatures above 40F, with Trinity Outlook (on a ridge) being 45F.  Like I said, a big range of temperatures this morning.  Over 20 degrees.  But basically, it is cold.

Tuesday morning's sky was pretty rad over the west side of Santa Cruz.

And pretty.  Sunrises have been in the good to epic range this month.  This morning's is cloud-less and amber.  The past few mornings had some great cloud structure to play with.  Today will feel cold, as light to moderate north winds keep ushering in the chill.  Certain north-south valleys could see some stronger gusts.  That wind will lighten by afternoon, and switch to a more south easterly flow.

Warming trend starts on Saturday.  Continued cold mornings.  But event eh mornings warm up a few degrees.  By Monday (Christmas), we expect a low in the low to mid 40s and the highs to hit the mid 60s.  Then it stays that way through mid week.  Unless a storm can sneak in here on Tuesday.  Still no confidence, but yesterday's noon run suggested a quick system.  This morning, it is gone from the model.  In fact, it has the state high and dry for almost a week into the new year, with a decent sized storm around the 6th.  In fantasy land.  It will be a very dry December this year.  Something that raises a little concern after those years of intense drought.  We need that rain to return.