Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for March ARB, CA

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

The marine layer cleared out of San Diego and Riverside counties this morning, and is now quickly burning off in Orange County.
Clouds will continue to clear towards the coast through the afternoon before another, deeper, marine layer builds back in tonight. Heights continue to fall through Saturday as a trough off the coast of Canada becomes a cutoff low and sweeps down into California. Ahead of this low, gusty west winds develop across the mountains and deserts as the gradient tightens on Friday, extending into the evening. A Wind Advisory has been issued for Friday afternoon through late Saturday night, with gusts up to 45 mph in the deserts and up to 55 mph in the mountain passes. Areas of blowing dust will be possible both days, primarily in the deserts, with reduced visibility down to 3 miles or less in some spots.
Further east, the deeper marine layer should be sufficient for some morning drizzle, heavy at times, especially in the valleys and up against the coastal slopes Friday morning. Moisture lingers as the low pushes into Central California Saturday morning, with some light rain/snow showers developing across the furthest north regions. Snow levels fall to around 4800ft by Saturday afternoon, and while the low looks to push south enough for some precipitation, any accumulations will be extremely light. Models continue to show some limited instability and isolated thunderstorms may develop late Saturday morning through early evening, primarily across the area stretching from the San Bernardino Mountains down into the IE and into Orange County. Any thunderstorms that manage to develop will bring gusty winds, and brief, heavy rain which could lead to some localized higher QPF amounts. Outside of any thunderstorms, QPF amounts will generally remain below 0.10" through all of Saturday.

As the low moves up into Nevada Sunday afternoon, any lingering precipitation and gusty winds will quickly end. Weak ridging begins to build back in over Southern California, with temperatures warming into early next week. Highs return to at or above normal by Tuesday, holding steady through late week as zonal flow aloft develops. At this point, models look fairly dry through at least mid week.

AVIATION
242030Z
Coasts/Valleys/Coastal Mountain Slopes
Clouds based at 3000-4000ft MSL continue to linger in Orange County. Clouds fill back in and spread inland again after 01z Friday with similar bases.
Patchy DZ possible along the coasts after 09z Friday. Clouds start to disperse 17-19z Friday with some SCT clouds along mountain terrain.

Mountains/deserts...West winds pick up 20-22z Friday, gusting 30-45 kts over ridges, through passes and desert slopes.

MARINE
No hazardous marine conditions are expected through Monday.

BEACHES
Elevated surf of 4 to 6 feet with sets to 7 feet possible from Saturday through Tuesday with strong rip currents expected.

SGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
CA...Wind Advisory from 2 PM Friday to 11 PM PDT Saturday for Apple and Lucerne Valleys-San Diego County Deserts-San Gorgonio Pass near Banning.

PZ...None.