Staying dry for now, Sunday forecast Dec 8th
Another beautiful day with mild offshore winds and warmer than normal afternoon highs. Unfortunately the down side to our classic Fall offshore winds is the return of heightened fore concerns. Red Flag conditions and Fire Watches are posted through out the region through at least Saturday. There is a good chance that they may come back over the next few days as well. For the overnight and in to early Sunday, look for mostly clear skies and more breezy northeasterly winds in most areas. Lows will be in the 40's and 50's depending on wind. Where it stays offshore, temperatures will be on the mild side. Where the winds go calm or even slightly onshore, it could be much cooler and we could even some patchy low lying dense fog. Expect highs on Sunday to once again be very nice with readings topping out in the 60's and 70's.
Looking ahead, we continue to see the Pacific storm track taking a big vacation from our region. This means more of the same pattern as we head toward the middle of the month. Systems will ride very high over most of California bringing mid and high clouds and then more breezy to gusty northerly winds. In between the offshore winds, very quiet and mild conditions are expected. As for temperatures, where it's offshore, expect more mild lows and very nice afternoon highs. In wind protected areas, temperatures could be very chilly for the overnights and not quite as warm for the afternoons. The strongest winds will likely be for late Monday and in to Tuesday especially in Ventura County. This is when heightened fire concerns will once again likely return as cold air from the north reinforces the offshore flow. This also means that this will not be an overly warm Santa Ana or Santa Lucia wind event and wind protected areas will actually be very chilly. Things will turn more onshore with even patchy fog returning by late in the work week and a slight chance for rain comes in to play by next weekend. Our Forecast models are not overly confident yet and will need more time to see if maybe some much needed rain is headed our way.
