Santa Ana winds will continue battering parts of the Inland Empire through Friday evening, with breezy conditions expected to continue into Saturday in the most traditionally wind-prone areas.
A wind advisory will be in place until 10 p.m. Friday in the Riverside County valleys and mountains, and into San Bernardino County, with northeast winds expected in the 20 to 30 mph range, along with gusts of up to 55 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
“Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects,” forecasters said. “Tree limbs may be blown down, and a few power outages may result.”
According to the NWS, winds will weaken as it gets later in the day, but breezy conditions are expected to linger into Saturday in “wind-prone areas.”
“Today will be the strongest of those easterly winds, with peak gusts near 70 mph expected well inland along the coastal slopes,” according to the agency.
A ridge of high pressure over the Great Basin in eastern Nevada was driving the offshore winds. But the high will gradually give way to lower pressure, yielding calmer conditions through the weekend.
A cold trough will swing north to south across California early next week, raising the prospects of rain, though amounts are forecast to be negligible at this point, according to the weather service.
According to the NWS, high temperatures in the Riverside metropolitan area will be in the low-to-mid 70s for the rest of the week, with lows in the mid 40s. In the Coachella Valley, highs will generally hover in the low 70s — with the exception of Sunday, when the high will approach 80 — with lows around 50. In the Temecula Valley, the highs will also peak in the low 70s, with lows in the mid 40s.