Periods of gusty Santa Ana winds will continue into Thursday with warmer conditions through Wednesday. For Thursday through Saturday, there will be slight day to day differences in high temperatures followed by a cooling trend for Sunday into the middle of next week. Night and morning coastal low clouds and fog could return as soon as late Thursday night.
For extreme southwestern California including Orange, San Diego, western Riverside and southwestern San Bernardino counties,
This evening, offshore flow continues with sfc pressure gradients still -11.9 SAN-TPH and -3.5 SAN-DAG. In the last hour, the strongest wind gusts reported in the wind-prone locations were 45-55 mph, noticeably weaker than at this time yesterday. High temperatures this afternoon were generally a few to as much as 10 degrees warmer than yesterday in the inland valleys and lower deserts.
From previous discussion, Strong and gusty Santa Ana winds will continue this evening, especially for the favored areas. The strongest gusts will likely be felt in vicinity of Cajon Pass and also across the Tecate Divide in San Diego County (east of Pine Valley to Jacumba), where there could be winds occasionally gusting to 55 mph. These winds will weaken further later this evening and overnight. The clear skies will allow for some of the wind-sheltered valleys to get quite cold, and even a few areas could potentially see frost in some of the higher inland valleys. Winds will begin to strengthen again tomorrow during the day, although likely not be as strong as today. Where there will still be winds, temperatures will be relatively warmer. The offshore winds will keep the skies mostly clear through at least tomorrow except for some high clouds. Temperatures will also continue to rise, with the warmest day being tomorrow when high temps will reach about 10 to 15 degrees above the seasonal average, with mid 80s for the inland areas.
Thursday through Monday,
Mild to moderate Santa Ana conditions continue to impact the region with a slight uptick in wind strength on Thursday, although these will continue to weaken gradually by Friday and into the weekend as the pressure gradient weakens with the ridge expanding northwestward. As this occurs, the ridge axis will become more elongated and negatively tilted, which will act as a blocking pattern and keep the dry conditions persisting through the beginning of next week, with only a gradual cooldown as some troughing to the east over central CONUS does help to influence the region with cooler air from the north, although with the ridge still in control, along with weak downsloping winds, temperatures will remain above average. The offshore winds will predominantly keep any development of the marine layer mostly confined over the coastal waters, although there could be a return of some fog/low clouds moving in over portions of the coast and inland areas of San Diego and Orange counties beginning Thursday night into Friday morning. The development of the marine layer will continue to become more prevalent going into the weekend and into early next week. Looking beyond the forecast, ensembles are hinting at the possibility of a return of precipitation towards the mid part to end of next week.
140400z, Mostly clear skies and VFR conditions through Wednesday evening. East to northeast winds 20-30 kts with isolated gusts to 40 kts for coastal slopes and foothills. Localized gusts 15- 25 kts into the valleys after 18Z Wed. Mod up/downdrafts in lee of mountains. Localized LLWS Wed morning, but unlikely for any TAF site.
No hazardous marine conditions are expected through Sunday.
Ca, None. PZ, None.
