150  
FXUS66 KMTR 190523  
AFDMTR  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA  
1023 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
   
..NEW AVIATION  
 
   
SYNOPSIS  
 
ISSUED AT 207 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
 
SEASONAL TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO UPPER  
70S ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY. COOLER TEMPERATURES AND SOME  
POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT RAIN RETURN MID NEXT WEEK.  
 
 
   
UPDATE  
 
ISSUED AT 845 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
 
THE FORECAST REMAINS ON TRACK THIS EVENING WITH NO CHANGES. DRIER  
BOUNDARY LAYER AIR HAS GRADUALLY SPREAD SOUTH ACROSS OUR AREA TODAY.  
LITTLE TO NO STRATUS, FOG OR DRIZZLE IS EXPECTED FOR THE NORTH BAY,  
SOUTH BAY AND MOST OF THE EAST BAY. LOW LEVEL ONSHORE FLOW WILL KEEP  
COASTAL AREAS FROM SAN FRANCISCO SOUTH PAST THE BIG SUR WITH A  
BETTER CHANCE OF IMPACTS FROM LOW LEVEL STRATUS/FOG OVERNIGHT INTO  
SATURDAY MORNING, BUT WILL REMAIN CONFINED MOSTLY TO THE IMMEDIATE  
COASTLINE. A GRADUAL WARM UP WILL CONTINUE TOMORROW, WITH MOST AREAS  
SEEING HIGH TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES WARMER THAN WHAT WAS REALIZED  
THIS AFTERNOON.  
 
 
   
SHORT TERM  
 
(THIS EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY)  
ISSUED AT 207 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
 
WHILE NOT QUITE AS DEEP AS YESTERDAY, THE MARINE LAYER WAS DEEP  
ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE LAYER OF CLOUD COVER ACROSS  
THE BAY AREA AND CENTRAL COAST. CLOUD COVER IS RAPIDLY DISSIPATING  
WITH MOST SITES EXPECTED TO CLEAR BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. AS OF 1PM  
MOST SITES ARE IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S BUT TEMPERATURES SHOULD START  
TO RISE RAPIDLY AS CLOUD COVER CLEARS OUT. HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY  
ARE FORECAST TO PEAK IN THE UPPER 60S TO MID 70S. AS WE HEAD INTO  
THE EVENING/OVERNIGHT HOURS, THE MARINE LAYER WILL COMPRESS TO  
AROUND 500 FT AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS. THIS WILL HELP TO KEEP ANY  
STRATUS THAT IS ABLE TO DEVELOP CONFINED TO COASTAL REGIONS, TO THE  
MONTEREY BAY, AND TO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY SHORELINE. WITH CLEARER  
SKIES FORECAST OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE INTERIOR THE QUESTION BECOMES,  
WHAT ABOUT FOG? WELL IT ALL COMES DOWN TO MOISTURE. HIGH  
RESOLUTION GUIDANCE IS SHOWING MUCH LOWER PWAT VALUES ACROSS THE  
REGION (GENERALLY LESS THAN 0.5") TONIGHT IN COMPARISON TO THE  
PAST FEW NIGHTS. THE COMBINATION OF LOWER PWAT VALUES AND A  
COMPRESSED MARINE LAYER SUGGESTS THAT ANY MOISTURE WILL BE  
CONFINED TO THE COAST AND NOT EXTEND INTO THE INTERIOR BAY  
AREA/CENTRAL COAST. THE TWO MAIN FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO DRIER  
INTERIOR OVERNIGHT CONDITIONS WOULD BE OUR BUILDING HIGH  
PRESSURE/RIDGING AND CONTINUED OFFSHORE FLOW FRIDAY EVENING INTO  
EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THIS OFFSHORE FLOW WILL BE LIGHT, BUT, IT  
SHOULD SERVE TO TRANSPORT DRIER, CONTINENTAL AIR INTO THE BAY  
AREA OVERNIGHT THUS DECREASING MOISTURE ACROSS THE INTERIOR AND  
INHIBITING WIDESPREAD FOG DEVELOPMENT.  
 
DIVING A LITTLE DEEPER INTO OFFSHORE FLOW, GENERALLY LIGHT OFFSHORE  
WINDS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED ACROSS THE REGION. THE EXCEPTIONS ARE  
THE HIGHEST PEAKS OF THE NORTH BAY INTERIOR MOUNTAINS WHERE MT.  
ST. HELENA WEST (ELEVATION 4340 FT) REPORTED A PEAK GUST OF 57 MPH  
EARLY THIS MORNING. ELSEWHERE, WINDS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN CALMER  
WITH PEAK WINDS BETWEEN 20-35 MPH OBSERVED. THE SYNOPTIC SETUP  
REMAINS PROGRESSIVE WITH THE POSITIVELY TILTED TROUGH SET TO  
WEAKEN AND EJECT EASTWARD WHILE HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES OVER THE  
WEST COAST. WINDS WILL THEN TRANSITION FROM OFFSHORE BACK TO  
ONSHORE AGAIN BY EARLY TO MID SATURDAY MORNING (REMAINING LIGHT)  
AS RIDGING BECOMES MORE ZONAL/LESS POSITIVELY TILTED OVER THE WEST  
COAST.  
 
 
   
LONG TERM  
 
(SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY)  
ISSUED AT 207 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
 
SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY, A WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE  
THROUGH THE REGION BEFORE ZONAL FLOW AND RIDGING REDEVELOP SUNDAY  
THROUGH TUESDAY. THE MAIN IMPACT OF THIS SHORTWAVE WILL BE TO DEEPEN  
THE MARINE LAYER SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY AND BRING MORE WIDESPREAD  
OVERCAST CONDITIONS AND SOME POTENTIAL FOR FOG TO BOTH THE COAST AND  
INTERIOR REGIONS. BY SUNDAY NIGHT, ZONAL FLOW WILL AGAIN DOMINATE  
WITH THE MARINE LAYER EXPECTED TO COMPRESS BELOW 500 FT.  
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN FAIRLY SEASONAL THROUGH TUESDAY WITH HIGHS  
IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S ACROSS THE INTERIOR AND UPPER 50S TO MID 60S  
ALONG THE COAST WITH OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES IN THE 40S TO LOW 50S.  
MINOR HEATRISK, PRIMARILY IMPACTING THOSE INCREDIBLY SENSITIVE TO  
HEAT, IS FORECAST ACROSS URBAN AREAS THROUGH MID NEXT WEEK. IF YOU  
ARE SENSITIVE TO HEAT, REMEMBER TO TAKE BREAKS WHILE OUTDOORS AND  
DRINK PLENTY OF WATER.  
 
THE PATTERN CHANGES MID WEEK WHEN AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS SET TO  
DEEPEN AND MOVE INTO THE WEST COAST. CLUSTER GUIDANCE HAS COME INTO  
SLIGHTLY BETTER AGREEMENT (IN COMPARISON TO YESTERDAY) THAT  
TROUGHING WILL DEVELOP MID WEEK BUT THERE IS STILL VARIANCE AS TO  
HOW DEEP THE TROUGH WILL BE. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO DROP,  
BECOMING BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS, WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOW  
60S, AS THIS TROUGH MOVES INLAND WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. ENSEMBLE  
GUIDANCE INDICATES SOME POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT RAIN AS THIS SYSTEM  
ARRIVES BUT CONFIDENCE IS LOW AS TO THE EXACT AMOUNTS. THE CPC HAS  
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND LEANING ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION  
CONTINUING FROM THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK THROUGH THE END OF APRIL.  
 
 
   
AVIATION  
 
(06Z TAFS)  
ISSUED AT 1023 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
 
SATELLITE SHOWS LOW CEILINGS HAVE PUSHED INLAND OVER MONTEREY BAY  
AND ALONG THE COAST CAUSING IFR/MVFR CONDITIONS OVER KSNS, KMRY AND  
KHAF. MOST MODELS SHOW AGREEMENT OF MVFR CONDITIONS BUILDING OVER  
MOST OF THE TERMINALS (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF KLVK) BUT THERE IS SOME  
UNCERTAINTY AS SOME OFFSHORE WINDS SHOULD KEEP THINGS A BIT ON THE  
DRIER SIDE AND KEEP THE MARINE LAYER CONFINED TO THE COAST. VFR  
EXPECTED TO RETURN BY 18Z FOR ALL TERMINALS, BUT MVFR CONDITIONS ARE  
ANTICIPATED TO RETURN BY SATURDAY NIGHT.  
 
VICINITY OF SFO...VFR CURRENTLY, BUT LOW STRATUS HAS DEVELOPED ALONG  
THE COAST. MODELS VARY WITH BRINGING MVFR CEILINGS IN TONIGHT.  
THEREFORE, MODERATE CONFIDENCE ON MVFR BUILDING NEAR 10Z, AS THERE  
IS A CHANCE THAT A LOW SCT GROUP MAY PREVAIL THROUGH THE NIGHT. IF  
MVFR CONDITIONS OCCUR, EXPECT VFR NEAR 17-18Z. MVFR CEILING WILL  
RETURN BY LATE SATURDAY NIGHT.  
 
SFO BRIDGE APPROACH...SIMILAR TO SFO.  
 
MONTEREY BAY TERMINALS...MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL UNTIL 18-  
19Z, WHERE VFR IS EXPECTED TO RETURN. TIMING IS A BIT UNCERTAIN AS  
CONDITIONS MAY CLEAR CLOSER TO 20Z. MVFR CONDITIONS MAY PREVAIL  
THROUGH MOST OF KMRY TAF PERIOD. EXPECT BOTH TERMINALS TO SEE A  
RETURN OF MVFR BY 03Z.  
 
 
   
MARINE  
 
(TONIGHT THROUGH NEXT THURSDAY)  
ISSUED AT 845 PM PDT FRI APR 18 2025  
 
NORTHERLY FLOW INCREASES GOING INTO EARLY SATURDAY, ESPECIALLY  
OVER THE NORTHERN OUTER WATERS, AS A WEAK COLD FRONT APPROACHES  
FROM THE NORTH. THE INCREASING WINDS WILL RESULT IN A BUILDING  
NORTHERLY FRESH SWELL. STRONGER NORTHERLY WINDS WILL LAST INTO THE  
NEXT WEEK.  
 
 
   
MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
CA...NONE.  
PZ...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR PT ARENA TO PT  
REYES 10-60 NM.  
 
 
 
 
 
SHORT TERM...KENNEDY  
LONG TERM....KENNEDY  
AVIATION...SO  
MARINE...SO  
 
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