Blustery weather will bring cooler temperatures to SLO County this week

Last week, high pressure over the Central Coast produced warm fall temperatures throughout the Central Coast. In fact, the Paso Robles Airport reached 99 degrees on Thursday, which tied the previous daily high-temperature record from 1984.

This week, a series of cold fronts will move through Northern and Central California, while the upper-level winds will bring a cooler air mass from the north. Consequently, temperatures will gradually cool through the week. In other words, it will feel more like autumn.

Moderate to fresh (13 to 24 mph) Santa Lucia (northeasterly) winds on Sunday morning will keep the marine layer out to sea. The winds will shift out of the northwest and increase to fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph) levels during the afternoon.

High temperatures on Sunday will reach the mid-70s in the inland valleys (Paso Robles) and the high 60s in the coastal valleys (San Luis Obispo). The beaches will quickly warm to the high 60s by the late-morning hours, cooling to the 50s by the late afternoon and evening as the marine layer appears in the coastal regions.

A dry cold front will move over the Central Coast Sunday afternoon with increasing mid- to high-level clouds and afternoon strong to gale-force (25 to 38 mph) northwesterly winds in the coastal regions through Wednesday. These winds will help to mix out the temperature inversion layer, during the afternoon, keeping the marine layer to a minimum. However, low marine clouds with areas of fog and mist will continue to develop during the night and morning.

A pattern of gentle to moderate (8 to 18 mph) northwesterly winds will develop during the night and morning, increasing to fresh to strong levels during the afternoon on Thursday through Saturday. That will allow a deepening marine layer with pockets of fog and mist to develop during the night and morning, clearing during the afternoon. High temperatures over this period will range between the high 60s and low 70s.

When might SLO County see rain?

A few of the longer-range models indicate a chance of rain during the first week of November.

Further out, could two consecutive years of precipitation exceed the norm for much of California? NOAA’s Climate Prediction Central predicts above-normal rainfall for California’s Central Coast and a significant snowfall in the Sierra Nevada mountains from December through February 2024.

This projection is primarily attributed to the El Niño condition brewing in the Equatorial Pacific. Whether this forecast comes to fruition remains to be seen, and time will be the ultimate judge.

Surf report

Strong to gale-force (25 to 38 mph) northwesterly winds off the California coastline will generate a 5- to 7-foot northwesterly (300-degree, deep-water) sea and swell (with a 5- to 11-second period) along our coastline on Sunday through Wednesday, decreasing to 4- to 6-feet on Thursday through Saturday.

Combined with this northwesterly swell will be a 1- to 3-foot Southern Hemisphere (220-degree, deep-water) swell (with a 14- to 16-second period) on Sunday through Tuesday.

Seawater temperatures: Seawater temperatures will range between 57 and 59 degrees through Sunday, decreasing to 54 to 56 degrees on Monday through Friday.

This week’s temperatures

LOWS AND HIGHS, PASO ROBLES

LOWS AND HIGHS, SAN LUIS OBISPO AND COASTAL VALLEYS

John Lindsey is a retired PG&E marine meteorologist. Email him at JohnLindseyLosOsos@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @PGE_John.