After Unusually Sunny May, Weekend Clouds Are Expected

Today’s forecast calls for plenty of sunshine, but a storm system moving into the Pacific Northwest this weekend is expected to bring night and morning low clouds, increasing through Monday.

“This weekend’s weather will be similar to that of Memorial Day weekend,” said Wilbur Shigehara of the National Weather Service. “We had a very unusual May--a lot more sunshine than usually expected, and gusty winds.”

On average, 58% of May’s days are sunny, but this year that jumped to more than 70%. Shigehara said such records date to 1892 and that 70% sunshine for May has occurred in the county only 12 times.

The month was also windier than usual, he said.

“This May 29 was the windiest ever recorded,” Shigehara said. “Winds were up to 40 m.p.h. on Sunday. It’s a very rare occurrence to have strong winds and rain on Memorial Day weekend.”

Although May varied from the norm, Shigehara said June has started in its usual fashion: night and early-morning low clouds, with clearing or partial clearing by the afternoon.

Today and Saturday’s coastal highs should reach 71 to 76 degrees, dropping to 56 to 61 degrees at night. Sunday calls for lower temperatures, with highs reaching 65 to 70 and overnight lows of 56 to 61.

Inland valley highs today and Saturday are expected to be 86 to 94, with lows of 48 to 56 through Sunday. The inland highs on Sunday are expected to drop to 71 to 78.

Gusty winds are forecast in the mountains, where highs are expected to reach 76 to 84 degrees, cooling to 40 to 48 at night.

The deserts will be hot and windy today and Saturday, with highs of 100 to 108, according to forecasters. Overnight lows are to be 64 to 72 through the weekend. Sunday highs will reach 95 to 102.