Tracking Santa Ana winds Wednesday

The First Alert Weather Center is tracking Santa Ana winds Wednesday throughout the workweek. Winds begin to shift to the northeast Wednesday mid-morning and will bring in hot and dry air. Moderate Santa Ana winds are expected where gusts could reach 50mph in some areas. The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory for the Santa Barbara County Southeastern Coast, the Santa Barbara County interior mountains and the Santa Ynez mountain range, expiring at 9am Wednesday morning. These winds will keep skies clear but will dry out the area and may heighten allergies. Temperatures will warm today, due to the winds, and highs are expected to be in the upper 60s to middle 70s.

Winds begin to peak Thursday morning, make sure you have outdoor furniture or valuables locked down or put away. It's also important to practice fire safety as well, starting at 3am a Fire Weather Watch will go into effect for Ventura County. Due to low humidity values and strong winds, fire risk is heightened. This Watch will expire at 6pm, but weaker Santa Ana winds continue into Friday. Temperatures on Thursday look to warm even further, expect slightly above average conditions, middle to upper 70s. Winds will keep skies clear, make sure to have sunscreen and hydrate if headed outdoors!

By Friday winds will calm down significantly, but they will still be weaker Santa Anas, meaning it'll be another sunny, hot and dry day. Winds will no longer be under advisory levels but will still impact the area. Temperatures will cool by a degree or two, but will warm right back up Saturday and Sunday. The next big storm were tracking arrives next week. As of now confidence is high that the Central Coast will receive rain, the tricky part will be timing and rain amounts. With each passing day, it will become more and more clear, but its safe to say you'll need to get those umbrellas out!