7:00 AM | Significant weekend warming trend that lasts into early next week

6-Day Forecast

Today

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, a bit warmer, highs in the low 70’s

Tonight

Partly cloudy, mild, breezy, some patchy fog late, lows in the mid 60’s

Saturday

Becoming mostly sunny, breezy, warmer, mid-to-upper 70’s

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, breezy, mild, upper 60’s

Sunday

Mostly sunny, warmer, low 80's

Monday

Mostly sunny, very warm, mid 80’s

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, very warm, mid 80's

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, not as warm, upper 70’s

Discussion

A significant warming trend will begin today and continue through the weekend. By early next week, temperatures will be well above normal with highs well up in the 80’s - even along coastal sections. An offshore flow of air will form as well and this will reduce the coastal late night and early morning fog and clouds that have been common in recent days.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/o7tT_Jrnv98

7:00 AM | Weekend shaping up to be pretty decent

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly sunny, cool, just a chance for a shower or thunderstorm, highs in the low 70’s

Tonight

Partly cloudy, cool, an isolated shower or thunderstorm, lows by morning in the upper 40’s

Saturday

Mostly sunny, not as cool, chance for a shower or thunderstorm, highs in the upper 70’s

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy, cool, slight chance for a shower or thunderstorm, near 50

Sunday

Mostly sunny, windy, pleasant, mid 70’s

Monday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, mid 70’s

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, mid 70’s

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, warm, upper 70’s

Discussion

Upper level low pressure will be gradually replaced over the next 48 hours by upper ridging with weak flow generally out of the west. This will lead to a general drying trend with diminishing chances for showers and thunderstorms as we progress through the weekend along with a gradual warming trend that will last into early next week.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/o7tT_Jrnv98

3:00 PM | Newly discovered comet could be the greatest ever in about one year

Discussion

A new comet has been discovered that is predicted to be incredibly brilliant during late 2013 and early 2014. In fact, if predictions hold true, then C/2012 S1 as it is officially known will be one of the greatest comets in human history, far outshining the memorable Comet Hale-Bopp of 1997 and very likely to outdo the long-awaited Comet C/2011 L4 which is set to shine in March 2013. The newly discovered comet is likely to be visible to the naked eye during the daytime and brighter than the full moon at night.

The comet was discovered on September 21st by Russian astronomers beyond the orbit of Jupiter, and it is expected to reach binocular visibility by late summer 2013 and become a naked eye object in early November of next year. The comet will get very close to the sun at the end of November 2013 (~0.012AU) and to ~0.40AU from Earth at the beginning of 2014.

One note of caution – comet brightness predictions sometimes exceed their performance. Some of us remember the hype of Comet Kohoutek in 1973 that underwhelmed. Nevertheless, this comet could become a “once-in-a-lifetime” event if the predictions come close to being accurate. Stay tuned.

7:00 AM | Warming trend this weekend with highs over 80 degrees by early next week

6-Day Forecast

Today

Becoming mostly sunny, pleasant, highs near 70 degrees

Tonight

Partly cloudy, mild, some patchy fog late, lows in the mid 60’s

Friday

Fog and clouds early then partly sunny, warmer, mid 70’s

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, mild, fog late, upper 60’s

Saturday

Fog and clouds early then partly sunny, warm, upper 70’s

Sunday

Mostly sunny, very warm, near 80

Monday

Mostly sunny, very warm, low 80's

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, warm, upper 70’s

Discussion

A marine flow of air will continue for the next couple of days generating some late night and early morning low clouds and fog along coastal sections. Upper level low pressure will then develop to our west and from that position it will pull warmer, more humid air into the region for the weekend and this warming trend will continue into early next week.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/5_8ON6nteYI

7:00 AM | Shower and thunderstorm threat diminishes this weekend

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, breezy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs near 70 degrees

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, cool, maybe a couple of showers and thunderstorms, lows by morning in the upper 40’s

Friday

Partly sunny, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the low 70’s

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, near 50

Saturday

Partly sunny, pleasant, slight chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the mid 70’s

Sunday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, slight chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the mid 70’s

Monday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, mid 70’s

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, warm, upper 70’s

Discussion

Upper level low pressure over the central Rockies will hang around until tomorrow continuing to make our weather somewhat unsettled; however, each day over the next few will feature reduced chances for showers and thunderstorms as the system weakens. Temperatures will generally hold in the 70’s for highs and upper 40’s to lower 50’s for nighttime lows through the upcoming weekend.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/5_8ON6nteYI

7:00 AM | Warming trend sets in later this week and weekend

6-Day Forecast

Today

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, cool, highs near 70 degrees

Tonight

Partly cloudy, mild, some patchy fog late, lows in the low 60’s

Thursday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, warmer, low 70’s

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, mild, fog late, mid 60’s

Friday

Fog and clouds early then partly sunny, warm, mid 70’s

Saturday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, warm, mid-to-upper 70’s

Sunday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, very warm, upper 70’s

Monday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, still very warm, upper 70’s

Discussion

A marine flow of air will keep us relatively cool again today, but then it will retreat by Friday and this action will set off a warming trend that will continue through the weekend. One other factor that will have to be monitored over the next few days is Hurricane Miriam which could very well send moisture into the southwestern US. There is an outside chance that Miriam’s tropical moisture could actually bring some clouds and rain into California, but odds favor that moisture staying to our east.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/xiHkyBd7ptw

7:00 AM | Threat for showers and thunderstorms continues

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the upper 60’s

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, cool, a couple of showers and thunderstorms, lows by morning in the upper 40’s

Thursday

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs near 70

Thursday Night

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, near 50

Friday

Partly sunny, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the low 70’s

Saturday

Partly sunny, pleasant, slight chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the low 70’s

Sunday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, low 70’s

Monday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, mid 70’s

Discussion

A considerable amount of moisture has moved into the region as an upper level low pressure region spins around right on top of the central Rockies. Clouds will be abundant for the next couple of days keeping our temperatures at cool levels and there will be a threat for showers and thunderstorms right through the late week time period.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/xiHkyBd7ptw

12:25 PM | Key US weather satellite goes dark

Discussion

A key US weather satellite, GOES-13 (aka GOES-East), that monitors the US east coast and the Atlantic Ocean has gone dark due to technical issues. The satellite was placed in “standby mode” on Sunday night as increasing “noise” interfered with its data collection. Initially, to mitigate the gap left behind for meteorologists, GOES-15 (aka GOES-West) was placed in “full disk scan” to grab occasional images farther east every 30 minutes, but its image quality decreases towards the US east coast. Now NOAA has placed its backup satellite, GOES-14, into service to take over for the troubled GOES-13. GOES-14, which was actually taken out of storage and activated about a month ago, is not yet providing all of the data that GOES-13 was contributing. The US also has polar orbiting satellites; however, images from these are rather narrow and are not as continuous as they are with GOES satellites. One of the biggest impacts from the brief degradation in satellite coverage may be felt in computer modeling as satellites are one of the main sources of data for weather models. GOES-13 was launched in 2006 and went operational in 2010 and was expected to remain in service for several more years. NOAA engineers are currently working on a solution to correct the problem from the ground, but no timetable has been set. The next generation of NOAA satellites known as the GOES-R series is not scheduled to launch until 2015.

7:00 AM | Chance for showers and thunderstorms next few days

6-Day Forecast

Today

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the low 70’s

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, cool, maybe a couple of showers and thunderstorms, lows by morning in the upper 40’s

Wednesday

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the upper 60’s

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, near 50

Thursday

Mostly cloudy, cool, chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the low 70’s

Friday

Partly sunny, pleasant, slight chance for showers and thunderstorms, highs in the mid 70’s

Saturday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, mid 70’s

Sunday

Mostly sunny, pleasant, mid 70’s

Discussion

A considerable amount of moisture will head into the region as an upper level low slides towards Colorado from Utah. Clouds will be abundant for the next couple of days keeping our temperatures at cool levels and there will be a threat for showers and thunderstorms right into the late week time period. Elsewhere, as far as the sun is concerned, large sunspot AR1575 is now facing the Earth directly, but, so far, it has been rather inactive. It will be monitored closely over the next couple of days until it rotates towards the back side of the sun.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/o-RF3HHEHg8

7:00 AM | Temperatures held down the next couple of days, but then a warming trend later this week

6-Day Forecast

Today

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, cool, highs near 70 degrees

Tonight

Partly cloudy, mild, some patchy fog late, lows in the low 60’s

Wednesday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, cool, near 70

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, mild, fog late, low 60’s

Thursday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, warmer, mid 70’s

Friday

Fog and clouds early then partial sun, warm, mid 70’s

Saturday

Fog and clouds early then partial sun, still warm, mid 70’s

Sunday

Fog and clouds early then mostly sunny, warm, mid 70’s

Discussion

It’ll be quite cool today and tomorrow along coastal sections where an onshore flow of air should persist. By Thursday, high pressure off the coast will expand eastward and this will cause a warming trend; especially, at inland locations. Elsewhere, as far as the sun is concerned, large sunspot AR1575 is now facing the Earth directly, but, so far, it has been rather inactive. It will be monitored closely over the next couple of days until it rotates towards the back side of the sun.

Video

httpv://youtu.be/o-RF3HHEHg8