Bright & breezy conditions as we head towards the weekend

Offshore flow in place will keep skies mostly clear and daytime temperatures above average for this time of year through the weekend. Strong and potentially damaging Santa Ana winds possible Friday night and Saturday in Ventura County. A return to onshore flow is expected early next week. 

Thursday there was a very low grade Santa Ana wind event in Ventura County that helped warm temperatures well into the 70s. 

A much stronger wind event is expected later Friday into Saturday, with warnings and advisories in place from 3PM Friday until 3PM Saturday.  A high wind warning is in place for the Ventura County mountains and valleys with gusts estimated to get up to 65 mph.  A wind advisory is in place for the Ventura County coast.

An upper low currently over southern British Columbia will drop south through the Great Basin Friday and bottom out over the lower Colorado River Valley early Saturday. This is a classic Santa Ana upper air pattern with good cold advection and strong wind support aloft.  This one is unusual too with the timing as winds will be strengthening through the day Friday before peaking Friday night into early Saturday.

Temperatures will cool slightly from Thursday but stay above normal with highs in the upper 60s to low 70s under mostly sunny skies for the next week.