Are we in for a drizzly Veterans Day? See latest SLO County weather forecast

“During the dry years, the people forgot about the rich years, and when the wet years returned, they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.” ― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

Even during the driest years, we still receive rainfall.

San Luis Obispo’s lowest annual rainfall on record was in 1897 with just 7.2 inches, followed by 1912 with 8.1 inches, according to the Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center.

On average, San Luis Obispo receives about 24 inches of rain each year.

During a dry year, the area experiences between two and four storms, while a wet year brings seven or more. Currently, the region appears to be in a classic La Niña pattern, which generally results in below-average rainfall for the Central Coast.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest continues to receive heavy rainfall as the storm track concentrates there.

Without a high-pressure system forming in the Gulf of Alaska, this pattern is expected to persist.

Moderate to fresh (13 to 24 mph) and at times gusty Santa Lucia (northeasterly/offshore) winds developing during the overnight and morning, shifting out of the northwest and increasing in the afternoon is forecast on Sunday.

This condition will produce primarily clear skies with a cool and crisp night and morning and a mild afternoon.

The inland valleys (Paso Robles) and coastal valleys (San Luis Obispo) will hit the low to mid 70s.

The beaches will range between the mid to high 60s on Sunday.

A cold front will move through the Central Coast on Veterans Day with increasing clouds, cooler temperatures and a slight chance of a few scattered rain showers.

Most areas will not receive any measurable rain.

The main impact of this system will be fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph) north to northwesterly winds that will follow in its wake on Veteran’ Day afternoon through Tuesday.

Fresh to strong (19 to 31 mph with gusts to 45 mph) Santa Lucia (northeasterly/offshore) winds and very low humidity levels will develop Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. These winds will decrease on Wednesday afternoon and night.

A dry cold front will create gentle variable winds and clouds on Thursday, followed by strong to gale force (25 to 38 mph) northwesterly winds and mostly clear skies Friday into Saturday.

The long-range models do not indicate any significant rain through the end of November.

Surf report

A 5- to 7-foot northwesterly (295-degree deep water) sea and swell (with a 7- to 17-second period) is forecast along our coastline through Tuesday morning, increasing to 9- to 11-feet (with a 16- to 18-second period) on Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday.

This northwesterly (295-degree deep-water) sea and swell will decrease to 6- to 8-feet (with a 7- to 15-second period) on Thursday, building to 8- to 10-feet (with a 7- to 18-second period) on Friday into Saturday.

Surface seawater temperatures will range between 54 and 56 degrees through Monday, decreasing to 52 to 54 degrees on Tuesday through Saturday.

On this date in weather history (Nov. 10)

2014: A storm from the remnants of Typhoon Nuri intensified to 924 millibars in the Bering Sea. This was the lowest pressure ever recorded in the North Pacific Ocean region. The previous record of 925 millibars occurred at Dutch Harbor in October 1977. Since this storm was on the northwest side of the Aleutian Islands, this leads to one question: What was the lowest pressure ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere? A highly instrumented P-3 Orion aircraft took numerous atmospheric measurements as it made two passes through Hurricane Patricia off the southwest coast of Mexico on Oct 23, 2015, and confirmed that Patricia reached an awe-inspiring 879 millibars or 25.96 inches of mercury at the ocean’s surface.

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.