Warm weather ahead with windy nights

Mostly clear skies expected through the week, with minimal coastal clouds and fog. Near to just above normal temperatures will continue, with temperatures Tuesday in the 70s. Periods of gusty offshore flow will dominate through the weekend, strongest Thursday and Friday with potentially critical fire weather.

A small but cold upper level trough, currently scooting through Washington state, will create a tight north to south pressure gradient at the surface tonight. This will lead to gusty north to northeast winds. It will be windy Monday night in south Santa Barbara County and the Santa Barbara County mountains, a wind advisory is in effect for these areas through 3AM Tuesday.  Ventura County mountains are under a wind advisory 9PM Monday through Tuesday 10AM.  The gusty northerly winds are expected to be 20-30 mph, with gusts up to 50 mph.

Monday night going into Tuesday morning will be chilly with inland temperatures in the 20s (San Luis Obispo County interior valleys), 30s for most of the Central Coast and 40s for the South Coast.

Tuesday will be mostly sunny and warm with temperatures above average primarily in the 70s.  Temperatures will dip a little on Tuesday and Wednesday with partly cloudy skies but we expect to stay above average through the week.

The trough will drop into Colorado by Tuesday afternoon. The northeast flow will then strengthen Tuesday night into Wednesday as the surface pressure gradients strengthen. The persistent offshore flow should keep low clouds and fog mostly at bay, but if any patches do form visibility will be very poor. 

The potential exist for a strong Santa Ana wind event Thursday and Friday in Ventura County.  For now a fire weather watch is in place for the Ventura County mountains and valleys Thursday 12AM through Friday 6PM.