Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for San Clemente, CA

DISCUSSION
FOR EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING ORANGE...
SAN DIEGO...WESTERN RIVERSIDE AND SOUTHWESTERN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTIES...

Update: Satellite imagery reveals that low clouds have begun to fill back in across most of the coastal and some of the inland areas of San Diego and Orange Counties. There could be some drizzle possible by later this evening and through the early morning hours tomorrow.
The latest HRRR shows that there could be a few showers developing by later in the evening tomorrow, mostly for the foothills and west- facing slopes, and likely only very light with accumulations of no more than 0.10 of an inch total for most areas through midnight tomorrow. By Sunday morning, most precip should come to an end, with perhaps only a couple lingering showers over the coastal and inland areas of San Diego County.

Winds have also begun to increase for the mountains and deserts, prompting the issuance of and Air Quality Alert by South Coast AQMD for the Coachella Valley, due to blowing dust. This is currently in effect until 9 AM Sunday. These winds will begin to subside by later in the evening tomorrow, and likely not need to issue an extension to the Wind Advisory already in effect until 2 AM Sunday morning.
From there, drier and slightly warmer temperatures on Sunday will be followed by a much more drastic warmup going into the middle of next week as a strong ridge begins to build back in over the region.

(Previous discussion submitted at 145 PM):

A trough of low pressure will start to dig into the Pacific Northwest later tonight. Cross sections of our local WRF are indicating a fairly deep saturated layer for tonight into Saturday morning. Current indications are this layer will be saturated enough to produce areas of drizzle or light rain west of the mountains and on mountain slopes during that time. Minimal accumulations are expected with chances of rainfall totals reaching or exceeding 0.10" at 5 percent or less.

As the low pressure system begins to dig south into the Great Basin Saturday afternoon and evening, rain chances increase especially for San Diego County. Any rainfall is expected to be light, but more widespread across the coastal basin compared to what is expected tonight into Saturday morning. It's unlikely rainfall totals will exceed 0.20" for the coast and valleys and 0.40" for the coastal mountain slopes. The most likely places for accumulating rainfall are in the San Diego coast, valleys, and mountains.

Stronger, gusty southwest to west winds are expected for the desert slopes of the mountains and deserts for Saturday afternoon into Saturday night. Stronger gusts of 45 to 55 mph with isolated gusts to 70 mph in the northern Coachella Valley below the San Gorgonio Pass are expected. Gusty west winds will continue Sunday afternoon and evening but not quite as strong with gusts to 40 to 50 mph and isolated gusts to 65 mph through wind prone passes.

High pressure will bring dry weather with warming Monday through Thursday. Conditions will warm quite rapidly between Sunday and Monday, especially in the valleys and mountain foothills due to a brief period of offshore winds. Highs in the valleys and foothills will be up to 10 degrees warmer on Monday compared to Sunday. As early as Tuesday, highs along the coast and valleys will be 10 to 15 degrees above average. The warming will spread further inland for Wednesday and Thursday. For Wednesday and Thursday, NBM chances for high temperatures in the warmer portions of the Inland Empire to exceed 100 are around 45 to 55 percent with NBM chances for the warmer portions of the lower deserts to exceed 110 on Thursday at 5 to 10 percent. The marine layer will become shallower with night and morning coastal low clouds not extending inland past the far western valleys for Wednesday and Thursday.

AVIATION
170330Z
Coast/Valleys
Low clouds based 1500-2100 ft MSL with tops to 2700 ft have developed along the coast and will move to fill the entire coastal basin to the western foothills by 09-11Z. Patchy drizzle is possible overnight between 08-18Z, which could locally lower vis to 4-6SM and cigs to 1000-1500 ft MSL. Partial clearing will occur for eastern valleys after 18Z, but most other areas will remain BKN-OVC all day, though cigs will rise to 2000-3000 ft MSL.
More scattered light showers/drizzle are expected after 00Z Sun.

Mountains/Deserts...SCT high clouds late tonight. Local west to south gusts 25-40 kts over the desert foothills and through passes will become more widespread through the deserts and strengthen to 35- 55 kt after 17Z Sat, producing strong up/downdrafts in the lee of mountains such as vcnty KPSP.

MARINE
Onshore winds gusting near 20 kts near San Clemente Island late Saturday into early Sunday may lead to some choppy seas in the outer waters for Saturday evening. Otherwise, no hazardous marine conditions expected through Wednesday.

BEACHES
Elevated surf will impact beaches Sunday and Monday. Expected surf of 4-6 feet would produce a high rip current risk.

SKYWARN
Skywarn activation is not requested. However weather spotters are encouraged to report significant weather conditions.

SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
CA...Wind Advisory from noon Saturday to 2 AM PDT Sunday for Apple and Lucerne Valleys-Riverside County Mountains-San Bernardino County Mountains-San Diego County Deserts-San Diego County Mountains-San Gorgonio Pass near Banning.

PZ...None.