The vernal (spring) equinox is overnight: Thu, Mar 20, 2025, 2:01 AM. This is when the earth's axis tilts neither toward or away from the in equal amounts of daylight and sunshine everywhere on the globe. Daylight hours become greater until the summer solstice. This doesn't have a lot of weather implications as meteorological spring is considered to begin March 1st which is when most weather patterns produce spring-like conditions.
As evening settles, dry and gradually warming conditions continue to prevail across the region, with significantly above-normal temperatures expected from Sunday through Tuesday. Gusty northerly winds are anticipated to affect the area intermittently throughout this period.
Today, a ridge of high pressure has moved overhead, bringing offshore flow from both the north and east. A few high clouds drifted through, but skies remained mostly clear.
The primary focus of the day has been the rising temperatures, with increases of 4 to 10 degrees from yesterday. This has brought temperatures into the mid and upper 60s along the Central Coast, the upper 60s to mid 70s along the coast south of Point Conception, and squarely into the 70s in the valleys.
Looking ahead, a weak trough will push the ridge eastward on Thursday.
Offshore flow from the north will persist, but the offshore push from the east will weaken considerably, even turning onshore in the afternoon. The Central Coast may see a slight warming due to localized offshore winds.
Stronger offshore flow from the north will bring gusty winds to north-south oriented canyons on Friday.
Into the weekend, a west coast ridge will begin to develop on Saturday, strengthen on Sunday, and peak on Monday.
Dry conditions and mostly clear to partly cloudy skies are expected.
Temperatures will be the main story over the next three days. Saturday's maximum temperatures will remain similar to Friday's, mostly in the upper 60s to mid 70s away from the beaches. Sunday will see a 2 to 6 degree increase, bringing lower 70s to the coasts and mid to upper 70s (isolated lower 80s) to the valleys. Monday is expected to be the warmest day, with an additional 4 to 6 degree increase. Maximum temperatures will be 8 to 12 degrees above normal, with 80s in the valleys.
The ridge will break down on Tuesday, and offshore flow will turn onshore, leading to cooling along the coasts and valleys due to an earlier and stronger sea breeze. The interior will experience one more day of warming.
