Dry conditions will persist through Saturday morning, but changes are on the horizon.
As onshore flow increases, accompanied by a greater extent of night and morning low clouds and fog, temperatures are set to cool down across the board from Friday through Sunday.
Over the weekend, an unseasonably cold storm system will skirt the region to the north, bringing with it a chance for light precipitation later on Saturday into Sunday.
This system's trajectory suggests some light rain may grace the Central Coast during this period. As the week progresses, a warming and drying trend will take hold, offering a reprieve from the cooler conditions experienced over the weekend.
In the short term, temperatures are expected to trend cooler as another late-season upper-level low pressure system approaches northern California on Saturday.
Although the system's track is predominantly inland, it carries enough moisture from southerly over-water flow to trigger light rain across the Central Coast from late Saturday into Sunday. Anticipate the marine layer to thicken, particularly on Friday and Saturday, further contributing to the cooler temperatures.
Looking ahead to the long term, the departing upper-level low will pave the way for warmer temperatures by Monday, with a modest increase of 3-6 degrees expected. While onshore flow will weaken, there's potential for some breezy north winds across southern Santa Barbara County early in the week. After Monday's warm-up, temperatures should remain relatively steady throughout the week, with minor day-to-day fluctuations. Coastal areas may see the return of marine layer clouds by midweek, but otherwise, the forecast suggests a rather uneventful weather pattern with minimal impacts for the remainder of the week.
