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Much Cooler Interior/Santa Ana Update

Oct 24, 2011; 12:03 PM ET

While the weather in the West will undergo some changes over the next couple of days, especially with regards to temperatures, for the third week in a row the weather all week won't be especially thrilling.

Here are a few of the highlights of the week.

A trough coming into the Northwest tonight will dig southeast tomorrow and Wednesday. This will not bring a lot of precipitation but will be accompanied by a few showers in the central and northern Great Basin with snow showers in the higher elevations of the Wasatch in Utah. There will be some impressive snow on the east slopes of the Rockies and foothills of Colorado with 4-10 inches possible along the Front Range and on the east slopes of the Rockies. However, this is pretty much out of the "West." The big change this trough will bring about is cooling over interior sections. Such as...

Salt Lake City: in the 70s today but low 50s Tuesday and upper 40s Wednesday.

Flagstaff: in the 70s today but only middle 50s by Wednesday.

Phoenix: in the 90s today but low 80s for Wednesday.

Some of the coldest nights of the season so far are also likely from interior Washington and Oregon on south.

The high pressure that will bring the significant cooling will also produce at least some Santa Ana winds Wednesday and Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The models have been all over the place on the intensity of this event. While I think there will be some wind in the usually favored areas, I don't think I would classify the Santa Ana winds expected as anything more than weak to moderate. The offshore flow, however, will reverse the cooling trend that started today and that will continue Tuesday in Southern California where there is likely to be some mist in the air for a while in the morning. The biggest warming will probably be from Wednesday to Thursday as temperatures are likely to climb into the 80s Thursday.

A little rain may fall in parts of western Washington on Wednesday afternoon from a weakening front, but a more widespread and heavier rain could fall on Friday. However, some rain every once in a while in the Northwest is certainly not out of the ordinary in fall.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or AccuWeather.com

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About This Blog

Ken Clark
Ken Clark's Western U.S. weather blog tackles daily weather events with commentary from one of the most experienced and trusted Western U.S. weather experts.

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