So far this September, the average daytime high temperature at Santa Maria Airport has been 73 degrees, below the normal of 75 degrees for this time of year.
However, overnight low temperatures turned out to be a couple of degrees warmer than normal at around 56 degrees, mainly due to the abundant amount of subtropical moisture that was flowing over our area and acting like a blanket during the night.
An upper-level low pressure system (575 decameters) off the coast of central California will continue to produce gentle to moderate northwesterly (onshore) winds (8 to 18 mph), and widespread overnight and morning offshore low clouds with pockets of fog and mist/drizzle, It returns to the ocean during the afternoon.
High temperatures Saturday through Wednesday will reach the low 80s in the inland valleys (Santa Ynez) and low 70s in the coastal valleys (Santa Maria and Lompoc). Beaches will remain in the 60s.
A weak cold front will move through northern Santa Barbara County Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, with rain in coastal areas and cooler conditions.
In fact, inland valleys will need help to reach the high 70s, while coastal valleys will only reach the high 60s. Due to warmer than average sea water temperatures, beach temperatures will remain in the 60s Thursday through Friday.
Increasing northwesterly winds Saturday into next Sunday will produce greater clearing and slightly warmer temperatures.
There is still no indication of any significant Santa Lucia wind events (northeasterly/offshore) until the end of September.
Temperatures in Santa Maria
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
55/70 55/71 54/70 54/70 53/68 54/67 56/71 57/72
Temperatures in Santa Ynez
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
52/83 52/81 51/80 50/80 50/79 50/77 51/78 52/80
Temperatures in Lombok
Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
56/70 57/70 56/70 55/70 55/67 54/67 55/69 56/70
Sea water temperatures
Sea water temperatures range between 58 and 60 degrees until Sunday, and increase to 61 to 63 degrees from Monday to Friday.
Surf report
A 3 to 5 foot NW swell (300 degrees, deep water) is expected (with a period of 8 to 11 seconds) along our coast from Saturday to Monday, increasing to 5 to 7 feet (with a swell period of 8 to 15 seconds) from Tuesday to Thursday.
This northwest swell will drop to 3 to 5 feet (with a period of 8 to 12 seconds) on Friday. The increasing northwesterly wind activity from Saturday to next Sunday will lead to an increase in northwesterly sea waves and sea waves.
In association with this northwest swell there will be a 1 to 2 foot (200 degree deep water) Southern Hemisphere swell (with a period of 13 to 15 seconds) Tuesday through Friday.
This date in weather history (September 16):
2005 – Based on spectral data from the Christmas Island buoy and modified by longitudinal diffusion along the diffusion axis, the peak of the Southern Hemisphere swell today is expected to be Friday afternoon. This is almost the same as the original calculation that used 60-knot winds and a decay distance of 5,300 miles from the storm 1,200 miles east-southeast of New Zealand.
Later that night, the Southern Hemisphere swell reached 6.6 feet over a 20-second period, which was the largest Southern Hemisphere swell we have ever recorded in a surfer’s buoy since 1983.
The 9-foot swell of the Southern Hemisphere is a 100-year event.
2015 Temperatures this morning across the central coast were 15 and 25 degrees cooler than at this time yesterday due to clear skies and a colder air mass. At 6 a.m., Santa Maria reported 50 degrees. At the same time yesterday, the station temperature was 65 degrees.
