Tracking winds, waves & warmer temperatures Tuesday, mini heatwave arrives by mid-week
A few areas of fog have formed in Santa Maria and fog-prone areas Tuesday morning,. Clouds will clear out rapidly and mostly sunny skies prevail for the entire area by late breakfast. Winds are offshore causing temperatures to rise fast, most of the beach es will warm into the upper 60s and mid 70s. Interior areas will warm into the upper 70s with a few places breaking close or at 80 degrees. Winds are string enough to prompt a Wind Advisory for interior Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez mountains until 8am. High Surf Advisories are now in effect for west facing beaches until early Wednesday morning. Avoid heading into the waters as rip currents may be dangerous.
High pressure builds and strengthens Wednesday. This will cause temperatures to soar above average! We have the possibility to break some daily records for this time in February. Expect the immediate coastline to differ slightly, as the ocean plays a big role but most of the beach cities will warm into the mid to upper 70s while inland areas break into the 80s. Wednesday and Thursday will be some of the hottest days of the year so far.
Expect more cloud coverage Thursday and winds to pick up as low pressure forms and moves into the area. While temperatures will hold rather steady, the bigger temperatures drop occurs as low pressure moves directly over the Central Coast. Friday through the weekend we drop 15-20 degrees and go from beach weather to sweater weather. Low pressure brings in cool and unstable air, so rain chances rise. The most likely scenario, is some misting and drizzle as early as Thursday with most moisture and scattered showers arriving Saturday and Sunday. Rain amounts will be very light and only close to a half of an inch, so impacts with rain will be minimal. Timing and amounts may change, but regardless this will be a very small system, long range data shows more moisture to come in the month of March.
