Sacramentans, you can leave your fans and AC remotes aside for a few more days, as milder temperatures and a decreased heat risk are expected to continue throughout mid-week. The National Weather Service Sacramento CA has decreed, after weeks that had us melting like ice cream on the sidewalk, that we're getting a brief respite from the scorching heat. "Less hot weather is expected through mid-week with Moderate to Minor HeatRisk over the region," NWS Sacramento outlined in their recent briefing.
For those of you yearning for cooler days, rejoice, as the Delta breeze is doing its job—bringing temperatures that are "generally 3 to 8 degrees cooler than the same time yesterday." However, not to be the bearer of less pleasant news, temperatures are on an uptick once again by the weekend. If you were planning outdoor escapades in the mountains today, keep your eyes peeled for isolated showers and thunderstorms along the Sierra Crest, south of I-80.
In the Sacramento Metro area, highs are expected in the range of the upper-80s to the middle-90s, while elsewhere, thanks to the relentless Delta, temperatures could ascend into the upper-90s to low-100s. The rest of the valley, unfazed by the Delta's influence, might sweat a tad with highs forecasted in the scorching upper-90s to low-100s. "More appreciable cooling arrives to most communities on Tuesday," promises NWS Sacramento, though it might still be slightly above what we're used to for mid-July norms.
Staring down the barrel of the week, an upper-level ridge from the Four Corners refuses to relent, with the result that it's back to the usual Valley summer—temperatures climbing to their inferno-like highs of upper 90s to 100s starting Friday. Although the National Blend of Models nudges us with a probability of 30-60% to exceed a sweltering 100 degrees F in the southern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys. For those residing in the northern Sacramento Valley, the odds are even less in your favor, hitting a rolling boil at a 75-95% chance. The extended forecast, keeping an occasional eye out for monsoonal moisture, suggests a weekend potentially punctuated with thunderstorms in the high Sierra of eastern Tuolumne County," according to the NWS report.
In terms of aviation, if flying is on your schedule, there should be no snags with VFR conditions maintained across interior Northern California for the subsequent 24 hours. Nevertheless, the NWS warns of "a 10-25% probability of isolated afternoon/evening thunderstorms over the Sierra," and for air travelers, winds should remain tame, not exceeding 12 knots, barring the Delta vicinity where a stiff westerly is expected to gust at times up to 25 knots through early Tuesday.
