INTERAGENCY FIRE WEATHER CENTER – PREDICTIVE SERVICES UNIT

0900 TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GEOGRAPHICAL AREA COORDINATION CENTER

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA 

***Gusty winds north winds for Santa Barbara County eastward into northern Los Angeles County, especially Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning***

An upper level trough moving through the Pacific Northwest will generate gusty winds along the Sierras north of Sequoia National Park throughout the day.  Some dry, downsloping winds will result in the lee of the mountains into Mono County where RH in the teens with gusts to 40 mph will be possible through this evening. Elsewhere, a north to south pressure gradient will result in some locally gusty winds during the afternoon into the overnight hours.  Northwest winds of 15-25 mph with gusts to 35 mph will be possible along the central coast each afternoon through Thursday.  These winds will generate some “sundowner” winds of 15-25 mph with gusts to 40 mph across Santa Barbara County this afternoon into the overnight hours. Similar winds can also be expected across the I-5 Corridor into the Santa Clarita Valley and nearby areas of the Antelope Valley.  These areas will see minimum RH fall into the teens with poor RH recovery Tuesday and Wednesday nights. At this time, the windiest period in Southern California this week appears to be the Wednesday night into Thursday morning when some wind gusts to 45 mph will be possible along the I-5 Corridor and the Santa Ynez Range in Santa Barbara County along with RH in the teens, or lower.  A High Risk Day has been declared for the Wednesday evening through Thursday morning timeframe due to strong winds and low RH, especially across Santa Barbara County eastward into northern Los Angeles County. The winds should decrease Thursday afternoon.  High temperatures will remain close to seasonal normal through Thursday with highs in the 70s along the coast to the mid to upper 80s further inland. This weekend, a ridge over the Rockies may edge further west, which would bring warmer temperatures, and less wind, to the region.  END/RK