| Day | Date | High/Low | Forecast |
| Mon | 2nd | 70/55 | Mostly sunny day with some high clouds. Mostly clear evening. |
| Tue | 3rd | 72/56 | Mostly sunny day with some high clouds. Some evening high clouds. |
| Wed | 4th | 72/56 | Mostly sunny day with some high clouds. Some evening high clouds. |
| Thu | 5th | 73/55 | Sunny day and breezy at times. Clear evening and possibly breezy early. |
| Fri | 6th | 74/58 | Sunny day. Clear evening. |
Synopsis
With an upper level trough passing through the state today, afternoon temperatures in southern California are close to normal for a change (at least, for areas west of the mountains). A marginal, off-shore flow tomorrow, however, should promote minor to modest warming. Another trough (this one, an “inside slider” type) will approach the Southland on Wednesday. Some mountain showers on the north facing slopes of the Tehachapi Mountains may occur Wednesday evening or early Thursday, but for many areas, the passage of this “inside slider” should be marked by windy weather (especially Santa Ana wind prone locales). The winds are expected to lighten up considerably by Friday, but yet another trough (this one is forecast to be a “cut-off” low pressure) may bring another round of breezy weather by the weekend (as early as Friday night in some areas).
Some breezy weather should develop tonight in Santa Ana wind prone areas, but peak wind speeds should be less than 50 mph (under 40 mph in lowland, Santa Ana prone locales). Winds should diminish by tomorrow afternoon. Most computer model forecasts show better, deep layered, support with the midweek trough. So, more widespread, windy weather is anticipated late Wednesday into Thursday. Peak mountain gusts potentially could exceed 80 mph though that shouldn’t be widespread in areal coverage. Peak lowland gusts may reach 50 mph in spots. Even the campus area should get breezy for time (peak gusts could approach 40 mph).
Although winds should weaken considerably by Friday, it may not cease entirely in some Santa Ana wind prone areas. Wind is expected to strengthen again Friday night or Saturday, but details of wind coverage and peak wind speeds remain uncertain (for now). It will depend on the future path of a predicted “cut-off” low pressure (hasn’t formed yet). Model solutions are varied on its path through the region (generally headed southeast for a time; then, possibly toward the southwest…over or south of southern California). For now, I’d just say that breezy weather should occur for time in some wind prone areas sometime late Friday through the weekend (peak mountain gusts probably will stay under 60 mph).
For this week (after today), warmer than normal weather is expected, but occasional influxes of polar air should limit how warm it gets (marginal off-shore flow tomorrow also a limiting factor). Almost for certain, no 90 degree weather is likely this week (not much chance for 80 degree weather before the weekend…may not at all, if the predicted “cut-off” low pressure comes overhead).
One other weather complication by the weekend is that there is a scenario for instability showers (mainly over/adjacent to the higher mountains). If the “cut-off” low pressure remains “in the neighbothood” for a long enough time, sufficient moisture should build up to support instability showers , especially in the afternoon hours (as early as Friday or as late as Sunday). Showers west of the mountains remain a low risk, and most wet scenarios keep showers to the east and south of L.A. County. Even where wet weather were to occur, rainfall would be mostly well under a quarter inch. So much will depend on how this predicted “cut-off” low pressure evolves.
Next issued forecast/synopsis may be on Thursday, 5 March, time permitting.