Santa Ana winds will persist into Friday throughout the Inland Empire, then weaken going into the weekend, but a second round of offshore winds is forecast Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, though meteorologists indicated the event is shaping up to be less intense than what was experienced this week.
The National Weather Service reported that northeast winds will remain through Thursday night, subsiding sometime Friday morning, with only breezy conditions afterward. Gusts of 35 to 45 mph are predicted in some valley locations, while in and around the Riverside and San Bernardino County Mountains, 60 mph winds are possible at times, the NWS stated.
A High-Wind Warning is in effect until 6 a.m. Friday, but a Red Flag Warning will not expire until 6 p.m. Friday.
“Low relative humidity Thursday and Friday will create critical fire weather conditions for mountains and western valleys,” according to the NWS.
Forecasters said a trough of low pressure may plunge out of the Pacific Northwest and drag across the region Sunday, generating light to moderate offshore winds. However, surface prognostication charts published by the Weather Service late Thursday afternoon showed the trough veering north of the Rocky Mountains, missing Southern California.
“By Monday into Tuesday, an area of low pressure is expected to part from the (jet stream) flow and become closed off,” the NWS stated. “As this system heads over Southern California, a surface high pressure will set up over the Great Basin. There is still uncertainty on where this low sets up exactly and how strong the high becomes, but another uptick in Santa Ana winds is looking likely by Monday or Tuesday.”
There was no estimate on the intensity of those winds, if and when they develop at the start of next week.
Unlike Los Angeles County, the inland region was largely spared the devastating impacts of this week’s Santa Ana windstorm. A few small-scale fires have broken out, but firefighters have generally made quick work containing them.
Numerous IE communities have been warned of likely public safety power shutoffs, especially SoCal Edison customers. The city of Hemet released a statement Thursday advising residents to be prepared for them.
“When extreme wind or other high-risk factors arise, power is temporarily shut off to reduce the risk of electrical equipment becoming an ignition source,” the city stated.
In spite of the warnings, SCE’s outage map did not show any sizable electrical losses Thursday afternoon.
High temperatures in the Riverside metropolitan area Friday and through the weekend are expected to peak in the mid-60s, with lows in the low 40s.
In the Coachella Valley, the highs are forecast to top out in the low 70s over the three-day period, followed by overnight lows in the mid 40s, and in the Temecula Valley, the mercury will reach the upper 60s, dipping into the mid-30s at night.