High confidence in a moderate to locally strong Santa Ana wind event Thursday through possibly Friday. The winds will be strongly focused over Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, and peaking Thursday afternoon and evening with gusts between 40 and 60 mph.
For the extended forecast, main focus continues to be on Santa Ana winds Thursday through Saturday. 00Z models continue to exhibit the same trends as seen over the last couple of days. The ECMWF indicates a moderate to locally strong Santa Ana winds Thursday through Friday with weak to moderate Santa Ana winds on Saturday.
Brief weak to locally moderate Santa Ana winds will develop tonight and continue through Tuesday morning, bringing near critical fire weather conditions. Areas west of the mountains will see a sharp rise in temperatures early this week,
with coastal locations potentially experiencing their hottest conditions so far this year. Weak onshore flow returns Wednesday onward, though inland areas and especially deserts will remain very warm through Thursday, before widespread cooling takes hold
late week. Onshore flow will strengthen Friday and into the weekend, with the likely return of marine layer clouds.
