791
FXUS66 KEKA 120744
AFDEKA

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
National Weather Service Eureka CA
1244 AM PDT Tue May 12 2026

.SYNOPSIS...An upper level low approaching will bring cooler
temperatures today with some light rain tonight and early
Wednesday for the north coast. Temperatures are expected to warm
again Thursday before another weak shortwave brings cooler
temperatures Friday and Saturday. Warmer weather is expected
early next week.

&&

.KEY MESSAGES...
- Cooler temperatures and coastal drizzle Tuesday.

- Light rain or drizzle forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday
  morning for Del Norte and Humboldt counties, mostly dry weather
  for areas farther east and south.

- Breezy winds Friday and this weekend.

.DISCUSSION...The approaching upper level low is bringing onshore
flow and marine stratus. This will likely keep the coastal areas
fairly cloudy and in the upper 50s. The nearly coastal areas will
see the most cooling on Tuesday with highs 10 degrees cooler.
Farther inland in Trinity county, eastern Mendocino county and
Lake county will see only a few degrees of cooling. Tuesday night
into Wednesday morning the weak frontal boundary brings some light
rain to Humboldt and Del Norte counties. A tenth to a quarter of
an inch is expected in these counties with the heaviest rain in
the mountains of Del Norte county. Farther south and east only a
trace to a tenth of an inch is expected. There is still the
potential for higher rainfall amounts with a 10 percent of over an
inch in Del Norte county. High temperatures will be notably lower
on Wednesday with areas seeing highs in the 60s near the coast
and 70s farther inland.

Wednesday afternoon through Thursday high pressure starts to
build into the area and most of the inland areas expected to see
highs warming into the 80s. Friday and Saturday the flow starts to
become more zonal and a shortwave moves by to the north of the
area. This will bring slightly cooler temperatures Friday with
additional cooling on Saturday. Also, gusty winds are expected
starting on Thursday and increasing Friday and into the weekend.
Gusts of 20 to 30 mph are possible with locally higher gusts
possible in favored areas. The strongest winds are expected to be
on Sunday.

High pressure starts to build in on Sunday bring a return of the
heat. This will bring some offshore flow and with the ridge axis
well to the west of the area this should clear out the coastal
clouds. Winds continue to increase on Saturday and Sunday. Gusts
of 25 to 35 mph are possible with locally higher gusts possible
in favored areas. The strongest winds are expected to be on
Sunday. The breezy winds along the coast and this will likely
help keep the high temperatures on the coast in the low 60s.
Inland areas are expected to warm into the 70s to low 80s. Early
next week highs are expected to warm into the upper 80s to low 90s
inland. This brings minor heat risk to much of the area on
Monday. MKK

&&

.AVIATION...The approaching upper level low is bringing onshore
flow and marine stratus. IFR to LIFR conditions are expected at
the coastal airports. CIGS are expected to lift this afternoon to
MVFR, but remain cloudy. There is stratus developing south of
Ukiah in Sonoma county. This could make it north into KUKI, but at
this point the marine layer looks too shallow and winds are
expected to be too weak. Tuesday evening as the low continues to
approach CIG may start to lift with some light rain or drizzle on
the north coast towards morning. MKK

&&

.MARINE...Northerly winds continue to diminish over the waters
this morning, especially in the northern waters. The seas are a
combination of wind driven waves and a 10 seconds west swell. In
the north, most of the water energy is in the swell, while farther
south the wind driven waves persist.

Tuesday night into early Wednesday a weak front is expected to
move through. This is expected to bring some rain to the area and
a brief period of southerly winds in the northern waters Tuesday
night. Wednesday morning northwest winds return and increase
again. These are expected to reach 10 to 20 kt by late afternoon
with the strongest winds south of Cape Mendocino. Winds are
expected to continue to increase on Thursday with 20 to 30 kt
winds by the afternoon. There may be some gale force gusts south
of Cape Mendocino. Friday and into the weekend the winds continue
with sustained gale force winds possible by Sunday. The steep
short periods waves expected to dominate the wave environment.
MKK

&&

.EKA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...
None.
NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATERS...
     Small Craft Advisory until 3 AM PDT Tuesday for PZZ455.

     Small Craft Advisory until 5 AM PDT Tuesday for PZZ475.

&&

$$

NOTE: The full forecast discussion is now regularly issued between
10 am/pm and 1 pm/am. Additional updates will be issued as needed.

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For forecast zone information
see the forecast zone map online:
https://www.weather.gov/images/eka/zonemap.png