Santa Ana winds will lash parts of the Inland Empire Thursday and Friday, with gusts over 50 mph in wind-prone locations, according to the National Weather Service.
“Models depict wind gusts of 35 to 50 mph for southern sections of the forecast area, locally near 60 mph through favored passes, such as the San Gorgonio Pass,” the NWS said in a statement. “The winds may produce difficult driving conditions in blowing dust and sand. The highest winds can be expected Thursday evening and overnight.”
A wind advisory will be in effect for the inland region from 10 a.m. Thursday to 4 p.m. Friday.
A trough of low pressure dragging across Northern and Central California will be the Santa Ana generator on Thursday. However, several high pressure ridges will replace the trough on Friday, according to Weather Service prognostication charts.
“The area of high pressure will build in from the southwest,” the NWS stated. “The pressure gradient oriented from west to east will shift from north to south as these two interact with one another. This will bring increasing Santa Ana winds from the north and east on Friday.”
The Inland Empire will be on the receiving end of Santa Anas Friday morning, but the more intense gusts will be across the San Diego mountains, meteorologists said.
“The winds will diminish by late Saturday morning,” according to the Weather Service. “After they decrease, calm weather will prevail for the weekend.”
According to the NWS, daytime highs on Thursday and Friday in the Riverside metropolitan area will peak in the upper 60s, with lows falling to around 45 degrees. On Saturday and Sunday, highs will settle in the low 70s and lows in the upper 40s, forecasters said.
For the Coachella Valley, daytime highs will top out in the mid 70s Thursday and Friday, with overnight lows in the upper 40s, and the temperature band will be roughly the same through the weekend, with clear skies.
In the Temecula Valley, the highs Thursday and Friday are expected to hover in the mid 60s, with lows in the low 40s, and through the weekend the mercury will be analogous to temps in Riverside.