Calmer Winds, Mild Days into the Weekend; Slight Cooldown Ahead Next Week
Calm and milder weather across the Coachella Valley for the second half of the work week, including a transition to onshore flow and cooler, cloudier weather continuing through at least the first half of the weekend. A return to drier, offshore flow and Santa Ana winds returns next week but the strength and timing remain variable.

Today an upper level low moves onshore from the Pacific increasing some of our cloud cover and allowing for some very limited moisture — mainly to our south around San Diego County — but very minimal precipitation is expected from this trough with little to no accumulation.

Even without any accumulation—our marine layer the next few days will increase relative humidities especially near the coast but this is mainly the case for the western slopes of the mountains. So we won’t see as much of an impact here in the Coachella Valley—but we’ll take any increase to our dew points/humidity levels that we can get.
Across the valley dry conditions will continue, especially around Palm Springs. Some westerly winds will develop over the next few days with this onshore flow regime. The strongest winds should reach 35-45 mph at the windiest desert slopes of the mountains.

The low pressure system is only here briefly, exiting Friday, but onshore flow is expected to linger. That flow will keep some low clouds in the forecast during nights and mornings—especially west of the mountains, and also some onshore winds for the mountains and deserts during late afternoons and nights.
Generally nice conditions for The American Express golf tournament happening in La Quinta today through this weekend. Watch for a few breezes tomorrow, this time around though winds coming out of the northwest.
Over the next week we’re looking at a trough of low pressure covering most of the nation’s interior with high pressure over the Pacific. That puts SoCal in northerly offshore flow for an extended period of time. There are a few shortwaves that move southward through the west at times next week, boosting our offshore pressure gradients—which will likely produce periodic episodes of Santa Ana Winds. Some members indicate a strong Santa Ana as early as Monday while others delay those winds until Wednesday or Thursday. Either way, fire weather conditions will be elevated and likely critical at times next week.

Daytime temperatures will continue to remain seasonal but nights will be a bit chilly over the next week.
