, Issued at 126 PM PDT Thu Apr 23 2026 (This evening through Friday)
Radar is finally quiet this afternoon after a period of somewhat active weather. Visible satellite shows mostly clear skies around the region with a few pop up CU hugging the hills. Increased insolation this afternoon has led to a warmer temperatures across the board.
Stepping back and looking at the longwave pattern over EPAC and CONUS reveals an interesting pattern. The EPAC is highly amplified with a solid ridge extending into E AK and W BC with a low off the CA coast with a rex block vibe. Farther east two pronounced upper lows spin, one north of MT and the other east of Nova Scotia with a ridge smacked in between with an omega block vibe. In other words a little bit of a traffic jam in the upper atmosphere. That being said, we do see some minor movement on the small scale and closer to home. A weak embedded shortwave/fuzzy upper low off the CA coast is slowly moving eastward. As this feature moves eastward high clouds will increase over the region tonight and Friday. The higher clouds may limit fog production tonight, but some low stratus will be possible. Interestingly, some of the CAMs resolve some forecast 1KM radar reflectivity tonight. Forecast is dry for Friday morning, but a few echoes may appear on radar. Increased cloud cover will also lead to cooler temperatures on Friday with highs dropping below seasonal averages again.
..issued at 126 PM PDT Thu Apr 23 2026 (Friday night through next Wednesday)
A trend that emerged a few days ago is still on track for the upcoming weekend, "wetter" and cooler. Broad troughiness remains over region with re-enforcing upper lows. Another upper low is on track to move over the region Friday night into Saturday and subsequent vort maxes Saturday into Sunday. These features combined with the northern fringes of sub-tropical moisture pulses will lead to some drizzle/light rain showers Friday night through Sunday morning. Not expecting much in the way of accumulation, trace to a few hundredths. Areas most favored will be coastal mts with enhanced low level lift. Temperatures for the upcoming weekend will be below seasonal averages with highs in the upper 50s and 60s.
By early next week 500mb heights begin to rebound with warming 850mb temps kicking off a gradual warming and drying trend. No precip in the forecast Monday through Wednesday.
(00z TAFS) Issued at 613 PM PDT Thu Apr 23 2026
Calm weather continues this afternoon into the evening with some high clouds making their way onshore. Expect VFR conditions through the evening hours. There is a stratus deck to our NW that is set to impact all TAF sites (to varying degrees) late tonight into the early morning resulting in MVFR conditions and some brief IFR periods. Both KSTS and KAPC will be the most impacted this TAF period as they will experience IFR conditions due to a combination of stratus and fog. KHAF will also remain in MVFR conditions due to stratus beginning 06Z Friday. West to NW winds are forecast to decrease overnight and increase to moderate strength by Friday afternoon, which will help mix out the lower CIGs at most terminals.
Vicinity of SFO, Persistent and moderate onshore flow is expected to continue through the TAF period. Westerly winds will help to bring in the coastal stratus deck causing CIGs to fall within MVFR criteria around 11Z Friday. The winds will also become light at this time with a brief period of IFR conditions from 12-16Z. By 19Z Friday, the winds are forecast to increase and CIGs will rise slightly, but will remain MVFR.
SFO Bridge Approach, Similar to SFO.
Monterey Bay Terminals, VFR conditions with moderate westerly winds continue through the evening hours. As stated previously, the MVFR CIGs caused by the coastal stratus deck is expected to impact Monterey Bay early morning around 10Z Friday and will stick around until the early afternoon (19Z Friday). Wind speeds should also increase by 19Z which will assist in the transition back to VFR.
(today through Tuesday) Issued at 924 AM PDT Thu Apr 23 2026
Moderate north breezes this morning will develop into a northwest breeze this afternoon. Choppy seas at times today will begin to subside Friday and continue into the weekend. Light rain and drizzle return to this weekend.
Ca, None. PZ, Small Craft Advisory until 9 PM PDT this evening for Pigeon Pt to Pt Pinos 0-10 nm-Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 0-10 nm-Pt Pinos to Pt Piedras Blancas 0-10 nm-Pt Reyes to Pigeon Pt 0-10 nm.
Small Craft Advisory until 9 AM PDT Friday for Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 10-60 NM.
Small Craft Advisory until 3 AM PDT Friday for Pigeon Pt to Pt Pinos 10-60 NM.
