Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Issued by NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA
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246 FXUS66 KMTR 011120 AFDMTR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Francisco CA 420 AM PDT Tue Sep 1 2026 ...New UPDATE, AVIATION, MARINE... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 1039 PM PDT Mon Aug 31 2026 - Cooler weather continues through the week - Beneficial wetting rain expected in the North Bay && .UPDATE... Issued at 416 AM PDT Tue Sep 1 2026 What was once Invest 95E off the coast of Mexico is now Tropical Storm Marie, with the forecast track generally moving off to the northwest. Ensemble model members are continuing to favor solutions where the storm drifts off out to the open ocean away from the state, and the confidence in any impacts to southern California, let along the Bay Area and Central Coast, is decreasing. DialH && .SHORT TERM... Issued at 1039 PM PDT Mon Aug 31 2026 (Tonight through Wednesday) Cool and wet. A deep 500 mb trough will slowly move towards the coast over the next 24 hours. The marine layer is currently 3,200 ft deep as measured by the 00Z OAK sounding. This deep marine layer, combined with the approaching trough, will very likely bring some coastal drizzle Tuesday morning. Afternoon temperatures will be 5-15 degrees below normal as the 850 mb temperature drops below 10C/50F for the first time since May. By Tuesday night a very weak cold front will bring a good chance for light rain to the North Bay. This front will move southward through the night and into Wednesday morning, bringing lower rain chances to the rest of the Bay Area and Central Coast. Wednesday will be similar to Tuesday with cool temperatures and another chance for rain in the North Bay overnight as a second disturbance moves through. && .LONG TERM... Issued at 1039 PM PDT Mon Aug 31 2026 (Wednesday night through next Monday) Rain chances peak Thursday morning with an 90% chance of precipitation in the North Bay, and a 70% chance of at least 1/10" at Santa Rosa. Again the rain chances fall off quickly as the system moves south, but there`s a decent chance (20-50%) for lighter rain across the cwa. The cooler weather will continue through Friday as the trough produces a cut-off low near the Pacific Northwest. By the weekend, high pressure will build over the desert SW. The interaction between the low pressure to the NW and high pressure to the SE brings more uncertainty to the forecast. If the trough is dominant the cooler weather will stick around, if not then we can expect a warming trend this weekend. The National Hurricane Center continues to track Invest 95E in the Eastern Pacific. While there is now a 100% chance of tropical cyclone formation over the next 48 hours, the circulation center was displaced from the thunderstorm activity and it struggled to get organized today. The eventual track of this system is still uncertain, with the ensembles showing a bi-modal solution. One of these outcomes would bring wind and rain to Southern California around Sunday or Monday. Either the PNW cut-off low will move far enough south to pull the decaying tropical cyclone towards Southern California, or high pressure will build south of the low, forcing the storm harmlessly to the NW. While there is a lot of hype around different deterministic solutions, it`s much more appropriate to look at ensembles in this time range. Both the GEFS and ECMWF ensemble show a 20-30% chance of tropical depression level impacts in Southern California, and a 10-20% chance of tropical storm type impacts. Even in the worst case scenario, our cwa wouldn`t get nearly as much rain or wind as Southern California. The current high end scenario (90th percentile) would bring 1/4" of rain to the Central Coast. The most likely outcome is no significant impacts, and the ensembles have trended more in that direction over the last 24 hours. There is virtually no chance for hurricane impacts in California. It`s worth watching if another system forms behind 95E, as persistent troughing could keep the door open through next week. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 416 AM PDT Tue Sep 1 2026 Extensive MVFR to low-end VFR stratus should continue through the sunrise hours, clearing back to the immediate coast through the course of the post-sunrise hours into the early afternoon, with a gentle to moderate onshore pattern wind developing in the afternoon and evening hours. Tonight, lower confidence in stratus impacts as the fringes of a decaying front begin to impact the region, with a shift to a more southwest wind flow expected as the front or its remnants approach. Greatest confidence in sub-VFR stratus development will be in the North Bay, where light rain is possible as the front passes late tonight into Wednesday morning. Vicinity of SFO... MVFR stratus with gentle southwest winds through the morning hours. A moderate westerly breeze develops in the afternoon and evening hours, with winds turning to the southwest and the south through the evening and overnight. Low confidence of MVFR ceilings early Wednesday morning, with greater confidence in low-end VFR clouds over the terminal, with a low confidence on the clearing time on Wednesday morning. SFO Bridge Approach... Similar to SFO. Monterey Bay Terminals... MVFR to low-end VFR ceilings persist through the latter part of the morning. A gentle onshore wind perks up through the afternoon and evening, with the winds turning from the southwest over MRY this morning to the west for the afternoon and evening. Low confidence in a return of stratus to SNS tonight, and MRY early Wednesday morning, as winds diminish. && .MARINE... (Today through Sunday) Issued at 416 AM PDT Tue Sep 1 2026 Gentle westerly to northwesterly breezes continue through the week with intermittent periods of moderate breezes. Wind driven seas remain slight to moderate through the week with a continuing long period southerly swell driven by tropical cyclone activity. && .MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...None. PZ...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Flynn LONG TERM....Flynn AVIATION...DialH MARINE...DialH Visit us at www.weather.gov/sanfrancisco Follow us on Facebook, X, and YouTube at: www.facebook.com/nwsbayarea x.com/nwsbayarea www.youtube.com/nwsbayarea