BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Yesterday was wild, as promised! Monsoonal moisture surging in from the south brought gusty winds to almost 60 mph and more than an inch of rain to Edwards Air Force Base with about a half an inch of rain to Lake Isabella. We're drier and clearing today, with a slight chance of lingering showers and isolated thunderstorms in California's mountains and desert, but it won't be nearly as active as yesterday.
So after Bakersfield remarkably surged to a high of 108 despite the rain in the area yesterday, today's temperatures are expected to be much cooler, but still well above average, with a forecast high of 99 today. That means mid to upper 90s for the rest of the valley, Kern River Valley and most Kern Desert cities today with some 100s lingering for Ridgecrest and California City this afternoon. The south mountains of Tehachapi and Frazier Park return to the mid to upper 80s this afternoon.
A trough of low pressure aloft looks to sweep over Northern California today, which will likely decrease the coverage of those scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms this afternoon.
So as we head into a drier and slightly cooler day with an increasing southwesterly flow, we're expecting to break out of the 100s we've had this week. So yes, today's forecast of 99 is much cooler than yesterday's remarkable 108, but it's still well above our seasonal average of 93. Thankfully this weak onshore flow will help to push out much of the remaining trapped smog and smoke, so valley air quality is lower in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range, and should improve some more tomorrow.
The rest of the weekend looks sunny, dry and warm, with above average 90s for most of Kern County through early next week as a weak westerly flow continues. So we'll stay sunny, dry and warm through the 7-day forecasts. The long range forecast is hinting at a chance of a trough developing next weekend, which means a chance for lower temperatures, but we'll wait to see how that comes together.
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