CENTRAL COAST—The first strong rain since May ventured into the Monterey Bay Tuesday afternoon and is expected to soak the Central Coast on and off over the next several days.
Anna Schneider, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service of Monterey, said the moisture is part of a cold front moving south from the Gulf of Alaska.
“Lingering showers will develop to scattered showers Wednesday with a chance of thunderstorms,” she said. “Behind this cold front there is some really cold air and when that hits the moisture it creates instability.”
Schneider said the rapidly developing “Pacific system” will most likely usher in lingering showers on Thanksgiving Day as well.
There will also be a winter weather advisory from 10 a.m. today through 10 a.m. Thursday because of the chance of considerable snow in higher elevations. In the Santa Lucia Mountains, east of Big Sur, forecasters say as much as 1-3 inches could fall above 2,500 feet, 3-6 inches in the 3-4,000 feet range and 5-8 inches above 4,000 feet. Schneider added that the Santa Cruz Mountains could get a “dusting of snow.”
The weather system could deliver as much as 1.5 inches of rain in the higher elevations.
