Santa Ana winds will produce warm, dry weather Wednesday through Sunday across San Diego County, raising the risk of wildfire. But significant rain could follow next week, according to the National Weather Service.
Conditions will shift early Wednesday when moist onshore winds die out, giving way to offshore Santa Anas. The winds will initially be mostly confined to the Inland Empire and Orange County but will later spread across San Diego County’s mountains and foothills.
Forecasters said local winds could gust 25 mph to 35 mph across the mountains and inland valleys on Wednesday, with isolated gusts to 40 mph, including along eastern Interstate 8, where dust clouds also are possible.
The Santa Anas will ease Thursday but remain strong enough to spread wildfire into the weekend. The risk of fire will be further raised by the relative humidity, which will drop to 15 percent inland. There’s also a lot of dead vegetation across the region. The public can monitor conditions online at Cal Fire.
San Diego’s daytime high will be 70 on Tuesday, 71 on Wednesday, 76 on Thursday, 74 on Friday, 76 on Saturday and 78 on Sunday. The seasonal high is 73.
Long-term forecast models suggest that a storm will pass through the Gulf of Alaska next week and then drop into Southern California, arriving as early as late next Tuesday or Wednesday.
“The system could bring about one inch of rain — or give us something very light,” said Brandt Maxwell, a weather service forecaster. “We aren’t sure yet.”
San Diego has received only a trace of precipitation since the rainy season began on Oct. 1.
