More offshore winds ahead, Monday Dec 16th forecast
Despite a brisk start to the day, plenty of sunshine helped to make it a very enjoyable last Sunday of Fall. Winter will officially start next weekend and as we have seen repeatedly for this early part of the rain season, storms continue to ride high up and over our region. Some clouds will drift overhead with rain falling well up in to Northern California. If any sprinkles were to occur in San Luis Obispo County, it would probably not even register above about trace amounts. It will be cool once again with breezy northerly winds on Monday and highs mostly in the 50's and 60's. Patchy fog is possible but should not be widespread and will likely burn off quickly.
Looking ahead, a breezy mix of onshore and offshore winds will grace the region next week. as the latest cold front comes ashore through Monday, winds will be from the onshore direction and then slowly turn more northerly which is the offshore direction. The offshore flow will then strengthen by Tuesday which means more sunshine and warming for the middle and second half of next week. Highs could start to sneak back in to the low 70's for the warmest regions despite chilly overnights and early mornings. We will also have a Fire Weather Watch for portions of Ventura County with this moderate offshore Santa Ana wind. More storms are lined up across the Pacific and our forecast models have not really been in agreement as for rain chances ahead. We could see another storm chance by next weekend and again the following Tuesday. That is very far out and we will need more time to gather the model data and see if maybe some much needed rain will occur before Christmas.
