Weather Alerts for California

Recent Locations: Stockton, CA

1. Beach Hazards Statement for: Northern Monterey Bay

2. Beach Hazards Statement for: Santa Barbara County Southwestern Coast; Santa Barbara County Southeastern Coast

3. High Surf Advisory for: Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands; Malibu Coast; Los Angeles County Beaches

4. High Surf Advisory for: Coastal Del Norte; Northern Humboldt Coast; Southwestern Humboldt; Mendocino Coast

5. High Surf Advisory for: San Francisco; Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore; San Francisco Peninsula Coast; Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast

6. High Surf Advisory for: San Luis Obispo County Beaches; Santa Barbara County Central Coast Beaches

7. High Surf Advisory for: Ventura County Beaches

8. High Wind Warning for: Central Siskiyou County

9. High Wind Warning for: Coastal Del Norte

10. High Wind Warning for: Eastern Sierra Slopes of Inyo County; Owens Valley

11. High Wind Warning for: Modoc County; Northern and Eastern Klamath County and Western Lake County; Central and Eastern Lake County

12. Wind Advisory for: Del Norte Interior; Southwestern Humboldt; Northern Humboldt Interior; Southern Humboldt Interior

13. Wind Advisory for: Greater Lake Tahoe Area; Greater Lake Tahoe Area

14. Wind Advisory for: Imperial County Southwest

15. Wind Advisory for: Modoc County; Northern and Eastern Klamath County and Western Lake County; Central and Eastern Lake County

16. Wind Advisory for: Mojave Desert Slopes

17. Wind Advisory for: Mono; Mineral and Southern Lyon Counties

18. Wind Advisory for: Northeast Siskiyou and Northwest Modoc Counties; Klamath Basin

19. Wind Advisory for: Northern Humboldt Coast

20. Wind Advisory for: Northern Sacramento Valley; Central Sacramento Valley; Mountains Southwestern Shasta County to Western Colusa County; Northeast Foothills/Sacramento Valley

21. Wind Advisory for: Santa Barbara County Southwestern Coast; Santa Ynez Mountains Western Range; Interstate 5 Corridor

22. Wind Advisory for: Surprise Valley California; Lassen-Eastern Plumas-Eastern Sierra Counties; Northern Washoe County

23. Wind Advisory for: Western Mojave Desert; Eastern Mojave Desert, Including the Mojave National Preserve

24. Winter Weather Advisory for: Northern Trinity

25. Winter Weather Advisory for: Western Plumas County/Lassen Park; West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

26. Winter Weather Advisory for: Western Siskiyou County

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Current U.S. National Radar--Current

The Current National Weather Radar is shown below with a UTC Time (subtract 5 hours from UTC to get Eastern Time).

National Weather Forecast--Current

The Current National Weather Forecast and National Weather Map are shown below.

National Weather Forecast for Tomorrow

Tomorrow National Weather Forecast and Tomorrow National Weather Map are show below.

North America Water Vapor (Moisture)

This map shows recent moisture content over North America. Bright and colored areas show high moisture (ie, clouds); brown indicates very little moisture present; black indicates no moisture.

Weather Topic: What is Rain?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Rain

Rain Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Precipitation in the form of water droplets is called rain. Rain generally has a tendency to fall with less intensity over a greater period of time, and when rainfall is more severe it is usually less sustained.

Rain is the most common form of precipitation and happens with greater frequency depending on the season and regional influences. Cities have been shown to have an observable effect on rainfall, due to an effect called the urban heat island. Compared to upwind, monthly rainfall between twenty and forty miles downwind of cities is 30% greater.

Next Topic: Shelf Clouds

Weather Topic: What is Sleet?

Home - Education - Precipitation - Sleet

Sleet Next Topic: Snow

Sleet is a form of precipitation in which small ice pellets are the primary components. These ice pellets are smaller and more translucent than hailstones, and harder than graupel. Sleet is caused by specific atmospheric conditions and therefore typically doesn't last for extended periods of time.

The condition which leads to sleet formation requires a warmer body of air to be wedged in between two sub-freezing bodies of air. When snow falls through a warmer layer of air it melts, and as it falls through the next sub-freezing body of air it freezes again, forming ice pellets known as sleet. In some cases, water droplets don't have time to freeze before reaching the surface and the result is freezing rain.

Next Topic: Snow