700 FXUS66 KMTR 251148 AFDMTRArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service San Francisco CA Issued by National Weather Service Eureka CA 448 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025
...New UPDATE, SHORT TERM, LONG TERM, AVIATION, MARINE, FIRE WEATHER...
.KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 420 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025
- Showers and isolated thunderstorms diminishing early this morning.
- Isolated thunderstorms possible again this afternoon over Mountains of San Benito and Interior Monterey County.
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.SHORT TERM... Issued at 420 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025 (Today and tonight)
Very active night across the Bay Area and Central Coast with numerous showers and thunderstorms. Why the activity? Two words: cut-of f low. A wound up upper low has been nearly stationary just west of Monterey Bay. Now for the ingredients: lift, moisture, and inst ability. Lift can be derived from a weak jet signature rounding the base of the upper low providing broad ascent. Numerous vort max es pivoting around the low and areas of PVA are also assisting the large scale lift. Moisture: latest satellite drive PWATs show va lues exceeding 1.5 or 175% PON. Those values arent too far off from ACARs soundings out of SJC earlier in the evening. Instability: Mesoanalysis shows a theta ridge on the east side of the low. These ridges can sometimes be seen as areas of high moisture and warm er air - like a fuel zone for thunderstorms. Additionally, forecast soundings/plots and ACARs data show ok lapse rates, but more impr essive MUCAPE values.
Weve had numerous weather spotters and general public reporting thunderstorms. These storms have resulted in brief heavy rain, gust y winds up to 30 mph, and small hail. Lightning detection networks have recorded over 3k strikes in the last 12 hours and over 5k i n the last 24 hours. Most times, this would be a bigger fire weather concerns, but thankfully these storms are producing some rain. Given the convective nature and hit or miss precip, amounts have ranged from a trace to nearly 0.75 inches in the Santa Cruz Mts.
That being said, until we lose those ingredients showers and thunderstorms will persist. Current forecast will keep showers and thu nderstorms around the region through the early part of Thursday morning. This could easily impact super commuters. Once the upper lo w begins to slowly move eastward mid morning precip will end in our area and shift more to the Central Valley. Behind the low, skies will gradually clear with mild temperatures and muggy conditions.
Please note, were still experiencing major comms issues and KMUX is currently limited to just inside the WFO. No ETA on a fix at this time. Thanks for your patience.
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.LONG TERM... Issued at 420 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025 (Friday through Wednesday)
As the upper low shifts south into interior SOCAL by early Friday, well see a building ridge over the eastern Pacific that quickly a mplifies over the northern half of California. The amplified ridge extending south from NORCAL into the Central Coast will produce a brief warmup on Friday with interior highs around 5-10 degrees above normal. That will push max temps back into the 90s for the hotte st interior locations. The rebuilding marine layer should keep coastal temperatures right around normal. The drier weekend will be sh ort lived as the storm door opens back up. A robust trough takes aim at CA. Longer range guidance brings rain back to the Bay Area as early as Sunday night/Monday morning with a marked cold front sweeping through. Still pretty far out, but there are some signs fo r instability resulting in another round of thunderstorms. One piece of uncertainty during this time frame will be the entertainment of a decaying tropical system Narda. Will Nardas leftovers get pulled in with the trough/cold front? Time will tell. The EPAC quic kly reloads with additional frontal passages/rain chances the middle of next for CA. Simply put, the end of Sept into Oct looks wet. CPC 6-10 day has most of the region above normal rainfall chances.
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.AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 420 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025
Lingering shower and storm chances look to exit the region into the mid morning. MVFR/IFR CIGs look to affect HAF and the Bays into the mid morning, but erode in the afternoon. Winds stay mostly light to moderate through the morning but increase into the afternoon as cloud cover erodes. Winds reduce again into Thursday evening as CIGs build along the coast and fill around Monterey Bay and at OAK. These CIGs begin to erode for HAF and OAK in the early morning on Friday as a dry airmass builds in to the region.
Vicinity of SFOBreezy winds and shower activity linger into the mid morning, with MVFR CIGs and lig ht winds expected for the rest of the morning. CIGS erode into the late morning as moderate to breez y west winds build. Winds reduce into the evening as scattered low clouds affect the terminal and fill over OAK. Cloud cover erodes into early Friday morning as winds become light.
SFO Bridge ApproachSimilar to SFO.
Monterey Bay TerminalsShower and storm activity lingers to the east of SNS until the late morning. Expect MVFR CIGs to affect the terminals into the mid morning, but erode into the late morning as mo derate west winds build. IFR CIGs return in the evening as winds become light. CIGs at MRY fall to LIFR into the late night.
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.MARINE... (Today through Tuesday) Issued at 420 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025
An upper level low pressure system located near Monterey Bay this morning will move eastward across the interior this afternoon. North-northwesterly winds will return and become gusty over the northern and outer waters later today through Friday. This will also result in rough and steepening seas. Winds will ease Saturday and then shift to light southerly on Sunday. A strengthening low pressure system approaches the Pacific Northwest bringing a cold front with rain to our coastal waters and bays early next week.
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.FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 420 AM PDT Thu Sep 25 2025
Showers and thunderstorms moved through the district overnight. Thankfully, most of these storms wer e on the wetter side with wetting rains. Precipitation will taper off by mid-morning Thursday. A sl ight warming and drying trend will develop through Friday. Subtle cooling is expected over the week end with a redeveloping marine layer. Wet weather returns early next week
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.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CA...None. PZ...Small Craft Advisory from 9 PM this evening to 9 PM PDT Friday for Pigeon Pt to Pt Pinos 10-60 NM-Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 0- 10 nm.
Small Craft Advisory from 3 PM this afternoon to 9 PM PDT this evening for Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 10-60 NM.
Gale Warning from 9 PM this evening to 9 AM PDT Friday for Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 10-60 NM.
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