Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Sacramento, CA
Issued by NWS Sacramento, CA
628 FXUS66 KSTO 171134 AAA AFDSTO Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Sacramento CA 250 AM PDT Fri May 17 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Seasonably warm weather continues through the weekend. Mostly sunny and dry conditions persist with periodically breezy winds Isolated shower or thunderstorm chances over the High Sierra south of Interstate 80 Saturday afternoon. && .DISCUSSION... Skies remain clear across interior NorCal other than an area of coastal stratus extending inland from the Delta into the southern Sacramento Valley as the marine layer has deepened to around 2-3k ft along the coast. Surface pressure gradient continues to trend onshore and southwesterly gusts of 30-35 mph persist in the west Delta, and local southerly gusts of 15-25 mph in the Sacramento region. Warm and dry weather will continue into next week as high pressure gradually weakens over the area as short-wave energy passes to the north. Temperatures will be close to average for mid-May and some areas of late-night and morning stratus will be possible in the Central Valley through the weekend. Isolated late-day showers and thunderstorms will be possible in the Sierra south of Lake Tahoe on Saturday, but the pattern is favorable for any storms that do develop to quickly move east of the crest. && .EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Tuesday THROUGH Friday)... Interior NorCal Tuesday sandwiched between EPAC upper ridge to the west and upper troughing moving through the PacNW. Upper troughing gradually increases over the CWA through the remainder of the week resulting in a downward trend in high temperatures. Some model differences towards the end of the week lead to forecast uncertainty with any precip chances. For now forecast remains dry with highs returning to near normal by Friday. && .AVIATION... VFR conditions over interior NorCal next 24 hrs except areas MVFR/IFR in stratus vcnty of Delta into Sac Vly/N San Joaquin Vly til 19z. In Central Vly, sfc wind mainly at or below 12 kts til 00z, then areas Sly sfc wind up to 15 kts in S Sac Vly. Vcnty of Delta, SWly sfc wind SWly sfc wind 15-25 kts. && .STO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...None. && $$