Offshore wind event to kick off a dry week in the West

Following the first major storm of the season in the Pacific Northwest earlier in the week, a ridge of high pressure setting up over the West will bring a mainly dry week ahead.

It was an impressive early season storm, with Seattle and Portland both picking up over 1.5 inches of rain over the past several days, putting both cities above average for rainfall in the month of September.

The rain helped firefighters gain control of the wildfires in Oregon and that should just about do it for the wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest, where this is typically around the end of the season anyway.

However, farther south into California, where many places have not had rain this month, the fire season is nearing its peak as the threat for offshore wind events increases.

The one in the near-term will last from Sunday into Monday. An area of high pressure building toward southeastward through the Rockies will create a tight pressure gradient with lower pressure near the coast.

The gradient will be the strongest across Northern California, where winds could gust as high as 45 to 50 mph.

In addition to the wind, the offshore flow will set things up for a heat wave across much of the region. Triple-digit heat is expected in some inland areas, while highs will only get close to 90 in parts of the Bay Area.

The combination of heat and wind will lead to a high fire danger early in the week. As the week goes on, the heat will keep the fire threat elevated, but the wind will diminish some.

The winds will pick up a bit across some of the mountains and canyons of Southern California on Monday, although likely not as strong as areas farther north.

Even so, the fire risk will be high across Southern California early in the week. Heat will be a story throughout the week with the offshore wind at the surface and the large ridge of high pressure.

With a persistent trough in the East, a ridge will linger across the West throughout the week.

The Los Angeles area will see temperatures rise to near the 100-degree mark around midweek, which is pretty typical with an offshore flow this time of year.

Even toward San Diego, highs will rise to near 90 degrees with inland areas closer to 100 degrees later in the week.

The ridge will start to break down a little bit by late next weekend into the first full week of October, which should allow the heat to ease and perhaps allow for some more rain in the Pacific Northwest.

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