Santa Ana winds return on Thursday
It will be very windy on Wednesday night in the mountains of Santa Barbara County and in the areas surrounding Santa Barbara. Overnight, winds are shifting from a northerly direction to more of a northeasterly direction. This will trigger a moderate to strong Santa Ana wind event on Thursday.
There is a wind advisory until 1:00 am in the Santa Barbara County mountains, Southwest Coast, west Santa Ynez Range, and Ventura County mountains. Wind speeds will be 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. The southern mountains and southeast valleys in Ventura County will then pick up a high wind warning until 4:00 pm Thursday with gusts up to 65 mph. There is also a wind advisory in the Ventura County coastal and valley areas from 1:00 am to 4:00 pm Thursday.
There continues to be a high surf advisory on Central Coast beaches only until 6:00 am Friday. Breaking waves will be 10 to 16 feet high with strong rip currents.
Thursday morning's low temperatures will be chilly in the 30s to 40s in valleys, and in the 40s to 50s on the coast. Most high temperatures will be in the upper 60s, with a smattering of valley cities in the low 70s. Skies will be bright and clear with offshore flow.
Winds will subside a little on Friday, but conditions will still be breezy and bright. A few low-end wind advisories may remain. Temperatures will continue inching upwards through the weekend and into Monday. At that point, our warmest valley areas could reach the mid to upper 70s, which is about 4 to 8 degrees above normal.
By Tuesday on our first day of spring, the marine layer will move back onto the coast. High temperatures will begin to cool a little bit. That trend will continue through at least midweek.
