571 FXUS66 KEKA 141140 AFDEKA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Eureka CA 440 AM PDT Mon Apr 14 2025 .SYNOPSIS...Warm and calm weather will continue today with Monday likely the warmest day of the week. A gradual cooling trended is expected Tuesday through Thursday. There is a slight chance for thunderstorms over the interior mountains Tuesday and Wednesday mainly in the afternoons. Thursday breezy north winds are expected. A rebound in the temperatures expected for Friday and Saturday. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGES: -Warm, calm, and dry conditions persist today with the potential for interior highs over 85 and coastal highs near 70. -Tuesday and Wednesday there is the potential for isolated Thunderstorms over high terrain Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. -Cool and gusty onshore winds return for the coast Wednesday and Thursday. WEATHER PATTERN OVERVIEW: An upper level low off the coast of southern CA is remaining nearly stationary, but strengthening slightly as it absorbs some more energy dropping down into it from the north. Today this will generally keep offshore flow in place and warm temperatures throughout the area. Highs near 70 are possibly close to the coast with low to mid 80s in the inland valleys. This evening and tonight the coastal stratus and fog is expected to return. The HREF shows widespread low clouds or fog by 12Z Tuesday at the immediate coast. Tuesday afternoon any marine clouds are expected to clear back to all but the most immediate coastal areas. However this is still expected to keep temperatures in much Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties 5 to 10 degrees cooler while Trinity and Lake counties will be nearly the same as Monday. Tuesday afternoon the southerly flow due to the upper low off southern CA will bring some moisture north into the area and this may bring some thunderstorms late in the afternoon to the interior mountains. Wednesday there is more uncertainty in the forecast, however it seems like temperatures will continue to cool in most areas due to the deepening marine layer aside from eastern Trinity County. There is the potential for a few inland showers or thunderstorms, but still quite a bit of uncertainty on this. Thursday a weather system moving down from the north, but remaining east of the area will bring cooler temperatures and breezy conditions. Friday and Saturday this system moves south of the area and high pressure starts to build in again. FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND DEVIATIONS: Skies remain clear across the area this morning setting things up for the warmest day of the week. Confidence is fairly high in these temperatures in the inland areas, but closer to the coast confidence is lower. Kept the forecast 3 to 5 degrees above the deterministic NBM, but more inline with the NBM mean. If skies remain clear this forecast looks on track, but if stratus forms this morning, temperatures at the coast could be more closer to 60 degrees than 70 in the forecast. Tonight the HREF is showing stratus moving onto the coast late tonight. Tuesday this stratus and associated marine influence is expected to keep temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler at the coast and the near coastal areas such as Ukiah, Garberville and Gasquet. A pattern change like this brings lower confidence to the temperatures as the bias correction doesn`t work as well. Trinity and Lake counties may also see a couple degrees of cooling. The upper level low off the southern CA coast is bringing some moisture north into the area with the south to southeast flow. This generates some fairly strong instability over the mountains of eastern Trinity and northeastern Mendocino county. This may also include northern Lake county. Even the GFS is showing 300 to 500 j/kg of CAPE. Lapse rates aloft are steep, but shear is weak. So there may be a few stronger storms, but any hail should be limited given the lack of wind shear needed to sustain storms. Wednesday the models start to diverge in their solutions. Some of the models show an upper level low moving down from the north as an inside slider. This would effectively cut off the moisture and keep most thunderstorms east of the area. The NAM is slower and farther east with this system keeping more instability and potential thunderstorms over the area. So this will need to watched as it gets closer. Thursday and Friday cooler temperatures are expected. Thursday is expected to see the strongest winds as the system moves by to the east of the area. Slightly warmer temperatures are expected Friday with more warming on Saturday. Sunday the ensemble clusters are in reasonable agreement on cooler temperatures, but generally dry weather continues. MKK && .AVIATION...Prevailing VFR are expected at all TAF terminals through tonight as high pressure remain over the area promoting clear skies and dry weather. Surface winds from E-SE up to 5 kts, becoming WNW 5-10 kts after 17Z. Short-term guidance shows a shallow marine layer along the coast tonight. After 15/06Z, there is a 40- 60% chance of low ceilings developing along the coastal terminals. Meanwhile, light southerly winds will push stratus northward from Santa Rosa toward UKI into Tuesday morning. && .MARINE...Northerly winds continue to ease across the coastal waters this morning. Gentle to moderate breezes across the outer waters today, while generally light to gentle breezes for the inner waters. Seas will continue subside throughout the day today. Winds are expected to increase again late tonight and strengthen through Wednesday as the pressure gradient tightens near the north coast. Strong to gale force gusts are likely in the outer waters on Wednesday, with the strongest north of Cape Mendocino. Strong winds are expected to expanded into the northern inner waters Wednesday afternoon, before back off Wednesday night into Thursday. Seas will respond with 11-15 ft significant wave heights possible in the outer waters, while steep seas of 7-12 ft are likely along the northern inner waters. && .EKA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA... None. NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATERS... Small Craft Advisory until 9 AM PDT Tuesday for PZZ470-475. Gale Watch from Tuesday morning through late Tuesday night for PZZ470. && $$ Visit us at https://www.weather.gov/eureka Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at: https://www.facebook.com/NWSEureka https://www.twitter.com/NWSEureka For forecast zone information see the forecast zone map online: https://www.weather.gov/images/eka/zonemap.png