155 FXUS66 KEKA 122154 AFDEKA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Eureka CA 254 PM PDT Fri Apr 12 2019 .SYNOPSIS...Dry and generally pleasant conditions will persist through Saturday afternoon before the next chance for light rain arrives during the evening. Additional chances for light rain will continue into early next week before another period of drier conditions returns for the middle of the week. && .DISCUSSION...An upper level ridge centered over the eastern Pacific is supporting sunny skies across most of northwest California this afternoon, with only some small patches of stratus lingering along the North Coast. Gusty northwest winds have also developed in many locations as the gradient tightens between the high pressure offshore and a thermal trough over the central valley. These conditions will largely continue through Saturday, with high temperatures rising into the low to mid 70s inland while the influence of the marine layer keeps highs closer to 60 along the Humboldt and Del Norte coasts. The ridge will then flatten out by late Saturday and allow a weak impulse to pass north of the area. This will bring another chance for some light rain showers to Del Norte County Saturday night into Sunday, with perhaps a few sprinkles as far south as Cape Mendocino. A stronger shortwave will arrive over the region on Monday, bringing more widespread rain to the area and possibly some minor snow accumulations to higher elevations as snow levels drop to around 3500 feet. Precipitation amounts with this system should remain on the low side as rain quickly tapers off to showers Monday night into Tuesday. A more amplified ridge will then build over the west coast during the middle of the week. This will support another period of drier and sunnier conditions, as well as the possibility of stronger offshore winds and warmer temperatures heading into the middle of next week. /CB && .AVIATION...An upper level ridge will continue across the TAF sites through Saturday, therefore keeping weather fair and mild. However, Del Norte and Humboldt Counties including CEC and ACV airports were impacted with MVFR-IFR conditions as lots of low level moisture continued along the North Coast. Most inland areas were VFR overnight/today and are expected to remain as such through Saturday. There is a very slight chance of brief shallow morning fog at UKI Saturday. Plenty of low clouds (MVFR-VFR) continued to hover around the Redwood Coast airports this afternoon. At 12 noon, CEC was reporting OVC010. Therefore expect to see low clouds again overnight/morning at coastal TAF sites but not as extensive. Winds will remain breezy to gusty across all locations through early evening. /TA && .MARINE...After a lull this morning, northerly winds are picking back up across the coastal waters, especially near and south of Cape Mendocino. Steep short-period seas will continue to build through this evening in response to the higher winds. Only the northern inner waters are not in a small craft advisory, but even some localized spots within that zone will see gusts up to 25 kt through this evening. These conditions will largely continue through Saturday right nearby and south of Cape Mendocino, but will decrease elsewhere as a weak trough of low pressure passing by to our north results in a decreased pressure gradient. Northerly winds will remain locally strong and gusty into Sunday, but perhaps only reaching small craft criteria over a smaller portion of the southern waters. Meanwhile, a northwesterly swell will continue to be present in the background at around 8 to 9 feet at 11 to 12 seconds, resulting in combined seas approaching 12 feet in the areas of higher short- period seas. Another swell will build in late on Saturday, reaching 9 to 10 feet at around 15 seconds. A more substantial front moving in on Monday will likely result in a period of strong southerly winds and seas, which typically becomes increasingly unusual as we work our way toward May. /AAD && .EKA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...None. NORTHWEST CALIFORNIA COASTAL WATERS...Small Craft Advisory until noon PDT Saturday for PZZ470. Small Craft Advisory until midnight PDT Saturday night for PZZ455. Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM PDT Sunday for PZZ475. && $$ Visit us at http://www.weather.gov/eureka Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/NWSEureka http://www.twitter.com/NWSEureka For forecast zone information see the forecast zone map online: http://www.weather.gov/eureka/zonemap.png