As much as I’d like to forecast some moisture, it is once again looking like a dry week ahead. A ridge of high pressure continues to keep the weak storm track well to our north, while still allowing periods of unproductive cloudiness to pass over the region. Temperatures will cool slightly Tuesday and Wednesday as a weak impulse drops down out of the northwest (missing us to the east), which will bring us a few clouds Tuesday before clearing out on Wednesday. Temperatures will drop to the low 50s and upper 40s into Wednesday, but will warm back up to near 60 by the end of the weekend.

Whenever we get weather that is unusual, there is always a need to ask “Why?” And of course with our extended dry spell people are looking for answers. There’s no simple answer as to why we have been so dry for the last three years, but I think a factor that has been overlooked and underappreciated is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or the PDO. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you what the PDO is, and how it can have long term effects on our weather.