National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat the Southwest; Fire Weather in the Central U.S.; Kona Low Impacting Hawaii

A rare March heat wave is ongoing with much above-normal temperatures over the Southwest U.S. through this weekend. Periods of critical fire weather will persist from the central Rockies to the central and southern Plains through the weekend as gusty winds and low relative humidity continue. A Kona low will continue to bring several rounds of moderate to heavy rainfall to Hawaii through Sunday. Read More >

ZOA CWSU Discussion KSFO TAF TDA
AWAITING CWSU INPUT
TAF TDA

KSFO/KSQL METAR
METAR
Area PIREPs
PIREP
   
Satellite Webcams, Ceiling≤030 Prob
Webcams

Click here to reload map


SIERRA 03 Hour Forecast SIERRA 12 Hour Forecast SIGMETs
TANGO 03 Hour Forecast TANGO 12 Hour Forecast
ZULU 03 Hour Forecast ZULU 12 Hour Forecast
Area Forecast Discussion Forecast Maps

689
FXUS66 KMTR 220427
AFDMTR

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Francisco CA
927 PM PDT Sat Mar 21 2026

...New AVIATION, MARINE...

.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 1257 PM PDT Sat Mar 21 2026

- Cooling trend continues through Sunday

- Temperatures near to slightly above seasonal averages next week

- Dry weather through the 7 day outlook

&&

.SHORT TERM...
Issued at 1257 PM PDT Sat Mar 21 2026
(This evening through Sunday)

Satellite imagery shows high clouds across the Bay Area and Central
Coast as a weak cold front stalls over the North Bay into northern
California and promotes a slight onshore flow, while the ridge that
gave us the last few days of record-breaking heat flattens and moves
off the the east. High temperatures today range from the upper 70s
to the middle 80s in the interior valleys, the 70s close to the
Bays, and the lower to middle 60s along the Pacific coast. These
temperatures are still warmer than the seasonal averages for this
time of year, but are still a welcome change of pace from the last
week. The high clouds will clear through the evening and overnight
hours, and a redeveloping marine layer will allow for some patchy
stratus in the coastal regions early Sunday morning. Morning lows
will take a dip as the lower elevations reach the upper 40s to the
lower 50s, with lows in the middle 50s to lower 60s in the higher
elevations.

The cooling trend continues through Sunday with more zonal flow
developing in the upper levels, with temperatures maybe a few
degrees cooler across the region, but conditions remaining similar
otherwise.

&&

.LONG TERM...
Issued at 1257 PM PDT Sat Mar 21 2026
(Sunday night through next Friday)

Conditions remain broadly similar through the next week as zonal
flow to slight ridging persist across the forecast region. The
inland valleys of Monterey and San Benito Counties remain rather
warm with highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s possible Monday
through Wednesday. Otherwise, copying and pasting the temperature
outlook for Sunday through the remainder of the 7 day forecast will
give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

The next chances for rainfall remain beyond the 7 day outlook, and
as the previous forecaster noted, extended range model output
suggests a chance for a developing trough pushing a weak low
pressure system into the state as March turns into April. A closer
look at the ensemble model clusters shows an approximate 50/50 split
between the model runs that do show a trough heading into the West
Coast and those that keep the slight ridging around.

&&

.AVIATION...
(06Z TAFS)
Issued at 923 PM PDT Sat Mar 21 2026

Currently VFR at all terminals with the exception of HAF which is
reporting MVFR visibility. Moderate confidence on the return of
LIFR ceilings to HAF, MRY, and SNS. Onshore winds will prevail.
Haze will reduce slant range visibilities.

Vicinity of SFO...Currently VFR with gusty westerly flow. High
confidence in VFR through the TAF period. Westerly winds will
prevail, diminishing tonight before increasing again (although not
as strong) with the afternoon sea breeze tomorrow.

SFO Bridge Approach...Similar to SFO.

Monterey Bay Terminals...Currently VFR with southwesterly flow at
MRY and VFR with northerly flow at SNS. Moderate confidence on
LIFR ceilings returning to the terminals tonight. Onshore winds
will prevail.

&&

.MARINE...
(Tonight through next Friday)
Issued at 923 PM PDT Sat Mar 21 2026

Strong northerly winds will continue through the weekend with gale
force gusts beginning to diminish tomorrow morning. Hazardous
seas are expected over the weekend as a result. Winds diminish and
seas abate going into next week.

&&

.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
CA...None.
PZ...Gale Warning until 3 AM PDT Sunday for Pigeon Pt to Pt Pinos 10-
60 NM-Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 0-10 nm.

Small Craft Advisory until 3 AM PDT Monday for Pigeon Pt to Pt
Pinos 0-10 nm-Pt Pinos to Pt Piedras Blancas 0-10 nm-Pt
Reyes to Pigeon Pt 0-10 nm.

Gale Warning until 3 PM PDT Sunday for Pt Arena to Pt Reyes 10-
60 NM.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...DialH
LONG TERM....DialH
AVIATION...Sarment
MARINE...Sarment

Visit us at www.weather.gov/sanfrancisco

Follow us on Facebook, X, and YouTube at:
www.facebook.com/nwsbayarea
x.com/nwsbayarea
www.youtube.com/nwsbayarea




   Select:      24HR Change/Gradients  |  Forecast Gradients   
OSO001
   Select:      MOS/BUFKIT  |  HREF Ceiling  |  WRF RH  |  WRF Ceiling  |  NBM MOS  |  LAMP MOS   






Yesterday ⇛Visible  ⇛Nighttime  ⇛GeoColor+GLM Today
 
24-Hour Temp Change 24-Hour RH Change

⇛Visible  ⇛Nighttime  ⇛GeoColor+GLM

Webcams