Breezy tonight, chance of showers this weekend
Warm and dry conditions will continue into Friday. A significant cooling trend along with a chance of light rain and mountain snow is forecast over the weekend as a storm system moves south over the region. Much warmer temperatures are expected next week as strong high pressure builds into the state.
The mid and high level clouds are associated with a weak trough zipping through in the overall northwest flow. As this trough moves another round of north to northeast winds picks up. Gusty tonight for the Santa Barbara South Coast and mountains. Winds will not be as strong as last night but a wind advisory is in place for the Santa Barbara South Coast and mountains until 7 Friday morning.
Expect fairly tranquil conditions across the area Friday. Pressure gradients turn weakly offshore early then back to onshore in the afternoon. Temperatures will still be above normal with the weak upper ridge that pops up and moves through. Will have another round of gusty northwest winds across western portions of the Santa Barbara South Coast Friday evening, otherwise no other winds of note across the area.
Saturday will be cooler with some precipitation chances as a deeper trough drops in to California from the northwest. The biggest story with this trough will be the cooler temperatures and gusty north winds it will bring, more so than precipitation amounts. Eventually the system will be quite the weather producer as it moves through the southern plains and southeast. Timing wise, the center of the trough axis is forecast to be over the area Saturday night, thus precipitation chances begin first north of Point Conception on Saturday afternoon then they progress southward before exiting the area on Sunday. Amounts if any will be very small with only a couple hundredths of an inch anticipated. High temperatures will drop into the 60s. The gusty southwest winds in some areas will make it feel even cooler.
Even though we will have more sunshine on Sunday, and with rising heights behind the trough, temperatures will still feel pretty cool but at least make it into the lower 70s in the warmest spots.
Next week temperatures will warm back above normal in the 70s and 80s with mostly sunny skies.
