Temperatures will remain relatively mild through Friday then warming into the weekend. Most coastal valleys will have overnight and morning low clouds and fog at times this week and there will be locally gusty winds west of Santa Barbara in the afternoon and evening hours.
A sunny day across the area today with just a few clouds. Temperatures in most coastal spots were 5-10 degrees warmer due to some northeasterly winds early in the day, inland temps were very similar to yesterday.
We`ll get another north/northeast push tonight with some patchy clouds in the Santa Maria/Lompoc areas. Expecting more northerly winds in southwestern SB County tonight but gradient trends are weaker and winds should be as well and mostly focused in the Gaviota area again.
Trends quickly turn onshore Wednesday afternoon as a pretty cold trough for this time of year moves into the Pac NW. The trough will continue to dig south through California Wed night into Thursday before moving east Thursday night into Friday. Only expecting minimal temperature changes Wednesday then slightly cooler most areas Thursday with the trough and likely a deeper and more widespread marine layer coverage.
Following the trough passage Thursday night we`ll see another increase in northerly winds across the western portion of the forecast area, including likely an increase in Sundowners in SB County. Then as surface high pressure strengthens over the area temps warm into the weekend.
Interestingly, models are really struggling with Sunday into early next week. One model likes it cool, another likes a big warm ridge. At this point I'll continue Saturday trends and watch for some clarity.
