Bay Area residents brace for another chilly night as the National Weather Service (NWS) San Francisco issues a frost advisory affecting much of the interior Bay Area and the Central Coast from 1 AM to 9 AM Tuesday. With temperatures expected to drop to as low as 34°F, the advisory highlights concerns for the well-being of unsheltered populations and underlines the importance of protecting people, pets, plants, and pipes from the cold. The frost advisory was released in a statement by the NWS San Francisco.
Building off the stable weather pattern, locals will continue to experience clear skies and mild afternoons, with temperatures ranging in the 50s and 60s throughout the week. However, the mornings are forecasted to remain cold, with temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Despite the moderate offshore winds providing some respite along the coast, many coastal areas quickly experience the frost’s nip. According to a National Weather Service report, “The 500 mb pattern is stabilizing as an elongated ridge over northern California and a vertically stacked, cut-off low roughly 500 miles west of Baja.”
Looking toward the future, the NWS predicts an omega block pattern off the coast that brings an extended dry spell, which is unusual for January. This pattern is set to result in clear skies, gentle winds, and notably no rain, with conditions possibly pushing us into one of the top 5 or 10 driest Januarys on record. “There is a good chance we end the month in the top 5 or 10 driest on record,” as mentioned in the Area Forecast Discussion. Pessimistically or not, these models agree that this anomalous dryness could persist until mid-February…