MONTEREY — Rain looks to be on its way to Monterey for the Thanksgiving holiday.

While that may not be the best news for travelers and those wanting to enjoy the beach over the holiday, it is positive news when it comes to cleaning out the remnants of the recent unhealthy air quality due to the severe California wildfires.

“The rain will be here on Wednesday and then there will be a little bit of showers on Thursday and some light rain on Friday,” said Steve Anderson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

In all, Anderson said the National Weather Service was predicting about a half an inch of precipitation.

The last time the Peninsula received an inch of rain in one day was on March 1.

While Anderson said the air quality had certainly improved over the past few days with the increasing of onshore winds pushing the smokier air back into the Central Valley, he said it’s expected to improve even more.

“It will increase as wind speed increases (Tuesday) and Wednesday,” said Anderson.

Anderson said to expect temperatures to range from the high 60s to lows in the 40s and 50s for the next few days.

That’s a change from last year when Peninsula residents experienced warmer temperatures in the upper 60s and 70s, which followed record-breaking warmth on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That’s when the Salinas airport set a record of 82 degrees, breaking the previous one set in 1933 when it was 80 degrees. In Monterey, the temperature rose to 79 while King City reached 76 degrees and Big Sur got up to 76 degrees.

But this year, Anderson said to expect moisture and wet conditions, especially if traveling.

On Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service out of Sacramento posted a flash flood watch for Wednesday through Friday for the areas burned by the Camp Fire in Butte County.

“Just be wary of the roadways and slick conditions — it’ll probably be extremely slow going through the Bay Area,” said Anderson. “Any time it rains up there, there tends to be 10 times more accidents.”

Anderson also noted that for those traveling through parts of the Sierra to expect snow.

“When it comes to Donner Summit, expect to have chains to get over the mountains on Wednesday,” he said.

In terms of next weekend, Anderson said it looks to be dry through the middle of next week with the possibility of rain moving its way back in after that.

“There’s another chance of rain by the end of next week,” he said.

As of Monday, rainfall levels in the San Francisco and Monterey areas were way down compared to last year.

“Right now, we’re well below normal – San Francisco is just 7 percent of normal,” said Anderson. “Normally, San Francisco should have 2.8 inches of precipitation and so far since Oct. 1 there’s only been 0.21.”