Warming Late Week with Increasing Santa Ana Winds

After a wet and unusually chilly start to the week, the Coachella Valley is drying out and slowly warming up as low pressure moves east and high pressure starts to build off the coast. Highs remain in the 70s today—that’s 15-20 degrees below our seasonal average of 93. Thankfully more sunshine will push temperatures back into the 80s later this week. 

The bigger weather story moving forward this week is the Santa Ana winds, with a High Wind Watch in effect for a huge portion of SoCal from Thursday morning through Friday evening. This is mainly in our surrounding mountains and the San Gorgonio Pass near Banning. We’re looking at NE to E winds that could gust up to 50–65mph, with potential gusts ~70mph in wind-prone areas near the pass. We’ll likely see them peak as winds shift more easterly Friday. 

While the coast could see temperatures soar into the 90s, here in the Coachella Valley it’ll be a more gradual warming trend. Temperatures will still remain relatively comfortable through the weekend. Looking ahead, another trough will bring cooler, breezier conditions early next week.