Wildfire in California, July 13 to 26, 2020

Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED
National Weather Service Hanford CA
326 PM PDT Mon Jul 13 2020

.UPDATE...Updated Air Quality Section

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.SYNOPSIS...High pressure will shift eastward during the next
couple of days and allow a weak upper level disturbance to settle
southward into California. This will keep our temperatures near
normal into early next week. Mainly dry conditions will continue,
with just a few afternoon thunderstorms possible along the Sierra
crest Wednesday and Thursday.

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.DISCUSSION...A weak upper level trough is making inroads into
California as high pressure retreats slightly eastward. The
decreasing heights and thicknesses along with a developing onshore
flow type pattern will take the edge off of our recent hot spell.
Current temperatures are generally running down a few degrees
from this time yesterday. This is especially true around Merced
County, as the marine layer has been stretched to around 2000 ft
and some of that ocean cooled air is filtering in. The increased
westerly flow will also create some higher wind gusts through the
westside passes by this evening, with speeds up to 35-40 mph. A
Wind Advisory remains in effect there today from 5 pm through
midnight.

The weak trough will be reinforced by additional shortwave impulses
dropping south along the coast during the next couple of days.
This pattern will trend temperatures further downward, resulting
in afternoon highs on Tuesday and Wednesday right around normal
for the middle of July.

The ridge is progged to rebuild slowly westward after Wednesday,
while weak low pressure hangs on just off the coast. We will thus
see our temperatures rewarming later this week, but not too
significantly, as we sit in a general south to southwest flow
between the ridge and the weak low pressure area near the coast.
Expect afternoon highs to run around 2-4 degrees above seasonal
averages for the second half of the week into the start of next
week.

This pattern remains generally dry for our area, but models
suggest enough moisture and instability during Wednesday and
Thursday for the possibility of a few showers or thunderstorms
near the Sierra crest.

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.AVIATION...VFR conditions will prevail over the central
California interior for at least the next 24 hours. Westerly winds
gusting up to 30-40 knots can be expected over ridges and through
and below mountain passes through 08Z Tuesday.

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.AIR QUALITY ISSUES...On Tuesday July 14 2020... Unhealthy for
sensitive groups in Sequoia National Park and Forest. Further
information is available at Valleyair.org

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.CERTAINTY...

The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is high.
The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is high.

Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit
www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information
an/or to provide feedback.

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.HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Wind Advisory until midnight PDT tonight for CAZ179.

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public...JEB
aviation....JEB

weather.gov/hanford