Week Ending 2025-02-16

Dormancy remains in place throughout the Santa Lucia Highlands, but another important shift occurred this week. The region received 1.03 inches of rainfall—the highest single-week total so far this winter and a significant boost for soil moisture after a very dry start to the season. This sustained rainfall over two consecutive weeks is helping to close the early-season deficit, improving outlooks for the coming months.
Temperatures eased downward, with daily highs averaging 59.0°F and lows at 38.2°F, leading to a mean temperature of 48.4°F. Soil temperature slipped to 50.5°F.

Winds remained a factor, with average daily peak wind speed up slightly to 11.8 mph and the week’s highest gust reaching 13.7 mph on February 10 at 5 PM. Mean wind speed was 5.7 mph. Evapotranspiration (ETo) inched up to 0.50 inches, consistent with the ongoing windy pattern.

In summary, this was the wettest week of the dormant season so far, bringing much-needed precipitation to the region and helping to recharge soil profiles. Temperatures and soil conditions remain typical for late dormancy, and wind continues to play a role in evaporation rates. Overall, rainfall has finally made meaningful progress toward closing the gap left by an unusually dry early winter.