Hot, dry, windy conditions forecast across Southern California this weekend
After a few days of cooler weather, conditions are about to get hotter, drier, and windier.
Temperatures are taking a turn Thursday, with highs jump as much as 12 degrees into the 70s and 80s, and up another 10 to 15 degrees higher than normal on Friday.
The hotter weather will unfortunately be accompanied by winds picking up – gusts of up to 20 to 25 mph could whip things up throughout the day, but the strongest gusts are expected later Thursday into the overnight hours for the foothills and mountains of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to Meteorologist Amber Lee. A wind advisory goes into effect at 6 p.m. Thursday for these areas, and the Santa Clarita Valley, where gusts could get as strong as 40 mph.
The warming trend will keep going into Saturday, when even the beaches are expected to clock in at a toasty 77 degrees.
Humidity dropped like a rock across Southern California, according to the National Weather Service.
"With winds pickup today, elevated fire weather conditions will persist today into the weekend," the National Weather Service tweeted. "Be careful with anything that could start a fire."
The warning is timely, with the Coastal Fire continuing to burn in Laguna Niguel. SoCal Edison says they saw "circuit activity" at about the time the fire started, but gusty ocean winds drove the flames uphill, burning at least 20 multimillion-dollar homes.
