Offshore winds will turn intense across parts of the Inland Empire Wednesday, prompting the National Weather Service to post a wind advisory for the region.
“The offshore flow will strengthen before peaking Wednesday afternoon,” according to an NWS statement released Tuesday. “At its peak, the flow will produce easterly winds gusting to 45 mph, and locally to 55 mph in mountain passes and foothills.”
The Santa Ana wind event warranted an advisory beginning in the predawn hours Wednesday and continuing until early Thursday afternoon.
Conditions were breezy around the Riverside metropolitan area Tuesday, but forecasters said a ridge of high pressure over Nevada bumping into an upper level trough of low pressure in Baja Mexico would elevate winds further Wednesday into Thursday.
“The offshore flow will weaken as the high gets displaced to the northeast in response to the low pressure moving in from the west,” the Weather Service stated.
After Thursday, calmer weather will prevail, though meteorologists are still sorting out the prospective impacts of another trough behind a cold front forecast to descend out of the Pacific Northwest early next week. Precipitation is likely, according to the NWS.
For Wednesday, daytime temperatures in Riverside metro will be unseasonably warm, topping out in the mid to upper 80s, with overnight lows in the low 50s. On Thursday, the mercury will settle a little lower, peaking around 80 and falling into the upper 40s. From Friday to Sunday, highs will generally top out in the mid 70s, dropping into the upper 40s during nighttime hours.
In the Coachella Valley, temps will reach around 90 on Wednesday, with lows in the mid 50s. On Thursday, the highs will stall in the low 80s and fall to around 55 overnight. From Friday to Sunday, temps will vary little from that pattern.
The temperature band in the Temecula Valley will track closely with the Riverside area for the remainder of the week, though nighttime temps may be closer to 40 degrees by Friday night, according to forecasters.