Weather headlines:
-Offshore flow will remain generally in place through Wednesday and keep a dry air mass across the region.
-An extended period of critical fire weather conditions is expected to affect Southern California through the midweek as gusty northeast winds continue through Monday.
-A stronger offshore wind event will likely develop between Monday night and Wednesday.
-Cold overnight temperatures are expected in wind-protected areas for the next several nights and mornings.
-A cooling and moistening trend is expected for the late week into the weekend.
Detailed forecast:
Sunny skies covered the Central Coast this afternoon apart from any smoke in L.A. county.
Temps across the region are expected to be near normal to a few degrees below seasonal norms this afternoon.
Highs should be in the 60s to near 70 from the coast to the valleys, with low 70s possible in the warmest inland coast and valleys.
An upper-level low will develop along the Central Coast tonight and push quickly out to the sea southwest of the area Monday afternoon through Wednesday as an upper-level high builds into northern California.
A broad easterly flow aloft can be expected over the area late Monday through Wednesday.
The main weather story over the next three days is the continued strong and gusty Santa Ana winds mainly across the wind-prone areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Advisory level northeast gusts of 45 to 55 mph can be expected at times through late Monday night in SoCal.
Needless to say, all the offshore flow will keep any marine influence well off the coast so skies will remain mostly clear across the southwestern portion of the region tonight through Wednesday.
A warming trend is expected for the early half of this week. By Wednesday, temps should be several degrees above normal for many areas.
Highs in the 60s to around 70 for the coast and valleys Monday will warm to the mid-60s to lower 70s by Wed.
The winds combined with the very low humidities and tinder-dry fuels will lead to a Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warning conditions by late Monday night and continue through Wednesday morning for Southern California.
