Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sacramento, CA

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242 FXUS66 KSTO 300809 AFDSTO Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 109 AM PDT Sun Jun 30 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A general warming trend begins today, culminating in dangerous heat and widespread major HeatRisk with areas of extreme HeatRisk from Tuesday into next weekend. Critical fire weather conditions are also anticipated in the Sacramento Valley from late Monday through Wednesday.
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&& Key Points - Long-duration, major heat event expected this week impacting holiday outdoor events. - Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect for the Valley, Delta and foothills from Tuesday morning through Saturday evening. - Red Flag Warning is in effect for the western side of the northern and central Sacramento Valley and adjacent elevations below 3000 feet Tuesday morning into the evening. .Discussion...
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A few straggling high clouds are lingering over interior NorCal early this morning as a trough moves across the Pacific Northwest, but otherwise clear skies are noted elsewhere. Some northerly downslope wind gusts are being observed throughout the northern Sacramento Valley as well, with the last gasps of onshore flow holding on from I-80 southward across the Valley and Delta. As a result, overnight low temperatures are only expected to fall into the mid 60s to low 70s throughout the Valley and foothills, with mid 40s to low 60s at higher elevations. The presence of broad troughing aloft today will allow the power struggle between onshore flow and northerly flow at the surface to continue today. High temperatures this afternoon are expected to rise a few degrees compared to yesterday. Widespread 90s to low triple digits are anticipated in the Valley and foothills, with 70s to 80s at higher elevations by this afternoon. Occasional gusts of 15 to 25 mph will remain possible through the early evening while the trough axis is overhead. A brief instance of an isolated shower or thunderstorm cannot be completely ruled out this afternoon and evening across portions of Plumas and Lassen counties, but probabilities of thunderstorm development remain around 5 to 10% at this time. Moving into the week ahead, the trough aloft is expected to gradually transition eastward as a robust ridge begins to build across the eastern Pacific. This will spur a more notable warming trend across interior NorCal through midweek, with little indication of appreciable relief on the horizon. Monday looks to be the "coolest" day of the week, with widespread high temperatures in the low to mid triple digits in the Valley and adjacent foothills, while 80s to 90s are still expected at higher elevations. Temperatures will continue to warm on Tuesday and Wednesday, with widespread mid to upper triple digits (greater than 105, less than 110) anticipated in the Valley and adjacent foothills by Tuesday afternoon and upper triple digits to low 110s likely by Wednesday afternoon. With little, if any, Delta breeze influence expected through midweek, overnight low temperatures in the mid 60s to near 80 in some areas throughout the Valley and foothills will offer little overnight relief. As a result, widespread major HeatRisk and areas of extreme HeatRisk look to arrive on Tuesday and remain in place into at least next weekend. In addition to the hot weather that looks to dominate the region this week, a period of breezy to locally gusty northerly winds is expected from late Monday night through Wednesday evening. Gusts of 20 to 30 mph will be possible throughout the Valley and adjacent foothills, with strongest winds expected along western portions of the northern and central Sacramento Valley. Given the typically dry, northerly aspect of the winds, afternoon minimum humidities into the single digits to low teens are anticipated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Overnight humidity recovery looks to remain poor as well, especially across the northern and central Sacramento Valley. As a result, elevated fire weather conditions are expected on Monday, becoming critical fire weather conditions for Tuesday and Wednesday.
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&& .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Thursday THROUGH Sunday)...
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Ensemble guidance then indicates a slight eastward transition of the eastern Pacific ridge through the late week period as the ridge axis looks to become centered over NorCal. There is some subtle uncertainty as to the exact strength of the ridge aloft as it moves inland, but the background trend of hot and dry weather continuing will remain through the end of the week and into next weekend. Resultant widespread high temperatures in the triple digits are expected from Thursday through Sunday across the Valley and adjacent foothills while 80s to upper 90s persist at higher elevations. In turn, this will lead to a continuation of widespread major HeatRisk and areas of extreme HeatRisk through much of the weekend as well. Ensemble guidance does indicate the potential for at least some semblance of Delta breeze initiation across the weekend which may introduce some modest overnight relief across the Delta and its immediate vicinity, but warm overnight lows are still expected to prevail elsewhere.
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&& .AVIATION...
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VFR conditions next 24 hours. Local northwesterly surface wind gusts 15-25 kts northern Sacramento Valley thru 06Z Monday, and local southwest gusts 20-30 kts vicinity west Delta after 00Z Monday, otherwise surface wind gusts generally below 12 kts.
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&& .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning from 11 PM Monday to 8 PM PDT Wednesday for Carquinez Strait and Delta-Central Sacramento Valley in Glenn, Colusa, Yuba, Northern Sutter, and Butte County Below 1000 Ft- Eastern Mendocino NF-Eastern Portion of Shasta/Trinity NF- Northern Sacramento Valley to Southern Tehama County Line Below 1000 Ft-Northern Sierra Foothills from 1000 to 3000 Ft. Includes portions of Shasta-Trinity and Butte Units-Southeast Edge Shasta- Trinity NF and Western Portions of Tehama-Glenn Unit-Southern Sacramento Valley in Yolo-Sacramento Far Western Placer, southern Sutter and Solano County Below 1000 Ft. Excessive Heat Warning from 11 AM Tuesday to 8 PM PDT Saturday for Carquinez Strait and Delta-Central Sacramento Valley- Motherlode-Mountains Southwestern Shasta County to Western Colusa County-Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley-Northern Sacramento Valley-Northern San Joaquin Valley-Southern Sacramento Valley. && $$