Very windy weather creating critical fire weather
Very strong wind event Tuesday. The First Alert Weather Center has been keeping an eye on the gusts across the area and has seen Crimea Street Fire Road in the foothills of Ventura hit a gusts of 94 mph at 10:30 Tuesday morning. Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties gusts have primarily stayed below 55 mph. Critical Fire Weather is expected through Wednesday because of warm, dry and windy weather.
Strong northeast winds are impacting almost all areas, but the strongest winds are in Ventura County. Tuesday we saw a big cool down due to cold air advection. Wednesday we rebound in temperatures. Much cooler conditions Friday through early next week as several storm systems to our north come on down brining us a chance of rain Friday through Monday.
A high wind warning remains in effect through Wednesday morning before dawn for local mountains and Ventura County. Winds will reach 55 mph in Ventura County with gusts up to 80 mph. The Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County mountains will have wind up to 40 mph with gusts up to 65 mph.
The winds are expected to cause damage, including downed trees and power lines and property damage. There may be power outages and drivers may experience difficulty, plus downed limbs in the roads.
A red flag warning is in place because of the high winds and resulting low relative humidity. The red flag warning is set to expire in Ventura County at 10PM Tuesday, and for the Central Coast, valleys and mountains of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties until 4AM Wednesday.
A high surf advisory continues on, but will expire Tuesday night. Breaking waves are highest on the Central Coast.
Winds will ease up a bit Wednesday morning, but continue throughout the day. The upper low will move to the southwest. Without cold air advection, temperatures will warm again by 4 to 8 degrees.
A small ridge will pop up over southern California on Thursday, but a strong upper low will move into the Pacific Northwest, cooling our temperatures by 8-10 degrees.
The upper low will move down the coast on Friday, bringing more clouds before opening into a moist trough. There is a slight chance of rain showers Friday and through Saturday.
With the trough, temperatures will cool further, bringing temperatures a few degrees below average over the weekend. Highs will only be in the mid 50s to low 60s. Lows dipping into the 30s for most locations.
On Monday, a fast moving trough will bring a better chance of rain to the region.
