Following a calm morning, very strong winds will pick up Tuesday evening across the region
Temperatures are falling slightly everywhere except for the South Coast. Temperatures will mostly remain in the 60s, near or slightly below normal.
A cold trough is dropping into Northern California from Canada. Skies will start partly cloudy on the Central Coast, with cloud cover increasing through the day.
By the evening, the base of the trough will move into Southern California, setting our region up for gusty north to northwesterly winds. Winds have potential to be damaging in some areas.
A high wind warning goes into effect from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am Wednesday on the Southwest Coast and in the western Santa Ynez Range. Gusts will be around 65 mph.
There is a wind advisory from noon to 6:00 pm Tuesday in the Ventura County mountains. There is another wind advisory from 6:00 pm Tuesday to 6:00 am Wednesday covering all other areas of the region. Gusts will be 45 to 50 mph.
A high surf advisory starts at noon Tuesday on the Central Coast with 12 to 16 foot breaking waves, at 8:00 pm on the Ventura Coast with 8 to 12 foot breaking waves, and at 8:00 pm on the South Coast with 4 to 9 foot breaking waves. Local sets may be higher. All surf advisories expire at 3:00 am Thursday.
Overnight, there will be some instability and a small potential for a few showers, plus snow down to 1,500 feet. Shower chances increase Wednesday afternoon, though there will also be periods of sunshine. Temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below normal. Winds will be blustery, but a little less from Tuesday.
There is a winter storm warning for the Ventura County mountains from 7:00 pm Tuesday to 4:00 pm Saturday. Wind gusts could reach 75 mph with dangerous wind chills. In total, we could see 1 to 6 inches of snow above 1,000 feet, 6 to 12 inches above 2,500 feet, and up to 2 feet over 4,000 feet, and mostly up to 3 feet over 6,000 feet, with some isolated areas of snow over 5 feet.
The low will continue moving south Thursday and Friday, when it will be heaviest in our area. Depending on how far to the west the low tracks, rain chances could carry over into Saturday.
