Update (10:03 p.m., Saturday, December 28): Extensive low clouds and fog developed Saturday evening across the Central Coast.
Some visibility is down to 1/4 mile, which prompted the issuance of the Dense Fog Advisory until 9 a.m. Sunday, December 29th, for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
Patchy low clouds and dense fog have also formed in areas south of Point Conception.
Weather headlines:
-An extended period of gusty northerly winds is expected through early next week.
-Slightly cooler temperatures are expected on Sunday with some light rain along the Central Coast in the afternoon.
-By Monday, it will turn warmer and through the rest of the next week, especially by midweek when winds arrive and high pressure builds over the Central Coast.
Detailed forecast:
Saturday has been a warm day as temperatures rose 3 to 6 degrees.
Low clouds and fog have been struggling to clear southward of Santa Barbara for the last couple of days.
However, we will likely see clouds filling in Saturday night in many areas as onshore flow returns Sunday and another weak system moves through the Central Coast.
The tail end of the system over northern California will brush the Central Coast Sunday afternoon and evening with some light rain, mainly over northwestern San Luis Obispo County. Amounts will be minimal, if any.
Highs on Sunday will remain near to slightly below normal for most coastal areas but 10-15 degrees above normal for the mountains.
Things look to be changing next week as systems passing north and east of the area create a strong gradient from the north forcing gusty north-to-northwest winds through the passes and canyons.
Models have consistently shown a gradient from the north starting Sunday night into Monday and then peaking Tuesday.
Southern Santa Barbara County will be seeing the strongest winds with some gusts possibly reaching 60 mph.
Cooler air will be moving in as well across the interior, dropping temperatures by several degrees.
However, due to downslope warming processes, coastal areas and the valleys will warm up by 3-6 degrees.
The north flow should also wipe out most of the low clouds.
Advisories:
A High Surf Advisory is in effect for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties until 3 a.m. Tuesday, December 31st.
A Beach Hazard Statement is in effect for Santa Barbara County until 9 p.m. Sunday, December 29th.
A series of large and long-period west-to-northwest swells will bring high surf to the west-facing beaches of the Central Coast of 10 to 15 feet, locally up to 18 feet, for much of the weekend. then dropping to low-end high surf on Monday.
Above-normal surf is also expected on west-facing beaches of the south Santa Barbara County coast through Sunday evening.
Nuisance coastal flooding may continue to affect beaches on the Central Coast around early morning high tides through the weekend.
