Strong winds — though not as strong as initially expected — once again will blow across the Southland Friday amid above-normal temperatures, including in the 90s in several communities, on the second day of a three-day hot spell.
But don’t call them Santa Ana winds as they just aren’t that intense.
The high heat results from high pressure aloft combined with an offshore flow, though these offshore winds are not quite strong enough to be regarded as Santa Anas, said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell.
A wind advisory indicating an expectation of 35-mile-per-hour winds or gusts was to have been in force until 2 p.m. in the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains and the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. But around 9 a.m., the National Weather Service canceled the advisory, saying the wind generally would remain below 30 miles per hour, although some locations could experience wind gusts of between 30 and 40 mph for an hour or two Friday morning.
The NWS forecast sunny skies Friday and highs of 77 degrees Fahrenheit on Mount Wilson; 81 in Avalon; 82 at LAX; 83 in Palmdale and Lancaster; 90 in Saugus, Burbank, San Gabriel and Downtown Los Angeles; 91 in Long Beach; 93 in Pasadena; and 94 in Woodland Hills. The normal at this time of the year is 73 in downtown and 74 in Woodland Hills.
Sunny skies were also forecast in Orange Counties, along with highs of 73 in Laguna Beach; 75 in San Clemente; 76 in Newport Beach; 88 in Mission Viejo; 89 in Irvine and Anaheim; 91 in Fullerton; and 92 in Yorba Linda.
Saturday’s temperatures will be the same as Friday’s in many communities and a little lower in others, with a sharp drop expected amid partly cloudy skies on Sunday.