FXUS66 KMTR 051726
AFDMTR

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Francisco CA
926 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026

...New AVIATION...

.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 340 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026

 - Moderate to strong winds along the coast and at higher
   elevations through Saturday

 - Warming trend expected into the weekend, peaking on Sunday

 - Dry conditions last through the extended forecast

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 835 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026

Generally clear skies prevail across the region as north to
northwest winds will start picking up across the region through
the next couple of hours. Some of the mountaintop weather stations
operated by PG&E have seen some pretty impressive gusts so far
this morning, with the Mount Saint Helena West station in the
Mayacamas recording a gust of 59 mph, Blue Ridge Road South in 
the Vaca Mountains on the Napa-Solano county line reporting 42 
mph, and the Mount Umunhum station in the Santa Cruz Mountains 
coming in at 44 mph. Strong gusts will persist into the afternoon
and evening hours, and across the higher elevations, may very well
pick up overnight as a thermal trough developing over the Central
Valley migrates over the coastline.

DialH

&&

.SHORT TERM...
Issued at 340 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026
(Today and tonight)

Winds remain gusty along the peaks of the North and East bay this
morning with some breezy conditions along the immediate coast.
Winds will build again into the late morning and early afternoon,
with widespread breezy winds expected, and continued strong gusts
along the higher peaks. The overall flow turns more northerly
today, leading to reducing humidities and some localized fire
weather concerns. Temperatures look to trend slightly warmer than
yesterday, but only by a few degrees in most places. 

Winds reduce gain into the night, but winds turn more north to 
northeast. This will put most of the region in offshore flow and 
contribute to continued drying in the higher peaks. The onshore 
flow will help the oncoming warming trend gain momentum.

&&

.LONG TERM...
Issued at 340 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026
(Friday through Wednesday)

Winds build again into Friday afternoon, with the areas most
affected being higher peaks and the immediate coast. But the flow
will lean more north to north west, causing continued drying.
High temperatures climb back into the 60s and 70s for most areas 
for Friday afternoon, with temperatures slower to cool that 
evening and staying warmer that night. 

Winds get breezy again into Saturday, but will be weaker compared
to the days before. The continued offshore flow will keep
conditions dry and allow temperatures to continue to rise. The 
warming and drying trend peaks on Sunday with winds becoming
mostly light again, causing a more stagnant heat to affect the
area. High temperatures will peak in the 70s for most areas with 
a few of the more interior locations breaking into the 80s.

The offshore flow breaks into the next work week with more zonal
(east to west) flow expected. The change in pattern will call for
a drop off in temperatures, by 5 to 10 degrees for Monday's highs.
This zonal flow won't be aggressive enough to cause continued 
cooling for most areas into the next work week, with temperatures 
looking to plateau for the mid week. It does look to be just 
enough to keep any rain chances to the north of the Bay Area 
through the extended forecast. 

Longer-term models keep the zonal flow through much of the week 
with it leaning a bit more to a slight ridging pattern in some 
ensemble members by the mid month. That will prevent much in the 
way of marine layer expansion or rain chances, and keep the 
forecast on the dry side. 

&&

.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 925 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026

VFR. North to northwest winds increase this afternoon and persist
through the evening before diminishing overnight and into Friday 
morning. Gusts are likely to reach up to 25 kt late this morning 
and into the afternoon. Winds increase once again by Friday 
afternoon.

Vicinity of SFO...VFR. 

SFO Bridge Approach...Similar to SFO.

Monterey Bay Terminals...VFR. 

&&

.MARINE...
(Today through Tuesday)
Issued at 835 AM PST Thu Mar 5 2026

Strong winds with gale force gusts persists across much of the
waters into Friday. These winds will build very rough seas of 12
to 15 feet. Conditions will gradually improve through the weekend
as winds diminish and seas subside. Winds build again into the
next work week with seas building shortly after.

&&

.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...None.
PZ...Small Craft Advisory until 3 AM PST Saturday for Pigeon Pt to Pt 
     Pinos 0-10 nm-Pt Reyes to Pigeon Pt 0-10 nm-SF Bay N of Bay 
     Bridge.

     Small Craft Advisory until 9 AM PST Friday for Mry Bay.

     Small Craft Advisory until 3 PM PST Friday for Pt Arena to Pt 
     Reyes 0-10 nm.

     Gale Warning from 3 PM Friday to 3 AM PST Saturday for Pt Arena 
     to Pt Reyes 0-10 nm.

     Gale Warning until 9 AM PST Friday for Pt Pinos to Pt Piedras 
     Blancas 0-10 nm.

     Gale Warning until 3 AM PST Saturday for Pigeon Pt to Pt Pinos 
     10-60 NM-Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 10-60 NM.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...Murdock
LONG TERM....Murdock
AVIATION...RGass
MARINE...RGass

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Prepared by Boulder-Creek.com Weather at: Thu Mar 5 12:30:06 PST 2026