Offshore flow and heat coming to an end, Sunday Oct 18th forecast

Classic Fall Santa Ana and Santa Lucia weather is starting to break ever so slowly and relief is on the way. Strong high pressure coupled with low pressure located to our southwest is driving this very strong and hot offshore flow. High pressure will quickly weaken as the low pushes toward the northeast and that will open the door to a stronger onshore flow. Heat advisories are expected to drop off for all coastal areas by late Saturday evening as well as Red Flag fire conditions. Look for overnight lows to finally sneak back in to the 60's with maybe even some 50's. However, some light northeasterly winds might still keep a few areas in the 70's for oner more night. On Sunday, cooler weather is expected as more ocean air starts to move back onshore. Highs will still be on the warm side with most areas in the 80's and some coastal areas topping out in the 70's. We could even see some patchy fog for the Central Coast which could be dense for some areas.

Looking ahead, further cooling is expected as we head in to next week. Look for just a few warm spots on Monday with lingering offshore winds still blowing lightly out some passes and canyons. Temperatures by Tuesday will be back in the lower 70's and 60's. An early season storm system will approach the region by mid week and our forecast computer models are pretty bullish on some much needed rainfall reaching our region.  It is never easy for our computers to deal with early season storms and we expect some twists and modifications to the forecast before mid week, but plan for at least some light showers region wide. By Friday, the early season storm will scoot to our east and high pressure will fill in behind which will warm things up as we head in to the following weekend.