SLO County weather forecast for the week of July 19: Fog at beaches will give way to sun

An interesting bi-weekly pattern has developed along the Central Coast.

A week of gentle to moderate (8 to 18 mph) south to northwesterly winds along the coastline with warmer seawater temperatures was followed by a week of fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph) northwesterly winds and cooler seawater temperatures.

This week we will see fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph) northwesterly winds and cooler seawater temperatures with a greater amount of clearing in the coastal regions during the late morning and afternoon.

Otherwise, coastal stratus with areas of mist and fog will develop along beaches and in the valleys during night and morning becoming mostly clear during the afternoon. A few areas of fog will continue to develop in the inland valleys during the early morning.

High pressure will build in from the east with daytime highs reaching the mid-60s to low 70s at the coast with mid-70s across in the coastal valleys (San Luis Obispo) and upper 80s to the low 90s in the Inland valleys (Paso Robles).

In other words, temperatures will run near-normal through this week.

Away from the Central Coast, there remains a chance for daily afternoon and evening thunderstorm development along the high Sierra Nevada. A warming trend is then favored to develop by the end July as high pressure rebuilds over the Western U.S. with daytime highs returning to around five degrees above-normal away from the immediate coast.

Surf report

Sunday’s 3- to 5-foot northwesterly (310-degree, deep-water) sea and swell (with a 5- to 11-second period) is forecast to continue along our coastline through Friday, increasing to 4 to 6 feet with the same period next Saturday and Sunday.

Arriving from the Southern Hemisphere, A 1- to 2-foot Southern Hemisphere (215-degree, deep-water) swell (with a 15- to 17-second period) is forecast to arrive our coastline on Monday and remain at this level through Wednesday.

Seawater temperatures will range between 57 and 60 degrees on Sunday, decreasing to 53 to 56 degrees on Monday through Saturday.

This week’s temperatures

LOWS AND HIGHS, PASO ROBLES

LOWS AND HIGHS, SAN LUIS OBISPO AND COASTAL VALLEYS

PG&E safety tip

Visit the PG&E Weather and PSPS 7-Day Forecast Website www.pge.com/weather to look at the weather conditions we’re monitoring and see the data we collect through our weather stations and high-definition cameras.

John Lindsey’s is PG&E’s Diablo Canyon marine meteorologist and a media relations representative. Email him at pgeweather@pge.com or follow him on Twitter @PGE_John.