Strong winds to bring record warmth, elevated fire risk Tuesday

Strong winds will be the big story the next few days, helping conjure up unseasonably warm temperatures and an elevated fire risk. 

Monday begins with lots of clouds and a light wind out of the south. This has left temperatures roughly 5 to as much as 15° warmer compared to early Sunday, in the upper 30s and low 40s. 

 

Southerly winds pick up as we find ourselves in between an exiting high pressure system and a developing low to the west. Winds could gusts as high as 30 mph this afternoon, leaving highs in the upper 60s. Flow remains rather strong overnight, allowing low temps to only fall to the 60° mark. 

Winds will become more impactful Tuesday as peak gusts could be as high as 45 mph. The combination of that along with the filtered sunshine will bring highs into the low 80s. As of this moment, our forecast high is 82. This is 1° above our record high for October 29th which was set back in 1922. Either way, we will likely tie or break Tuesday's record high, though fall short of Wednesday's record by a few degrees. Still, we can expect this warm wind to continue, landing highs in the upper 70s Wednesday. 

The heat doesn't last long however as a rather strong cold front slides through. Accompanying the frontal passage will be the chance for rain, with a shot at widespread rainfall and thunderstorms Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Showers look to come to an end prior to the midday hours on Halloween, leaving behind a dry but chilly outlook for trick-or-treaters. Temperatures will peak in the lot mid 50s before falling into the 40s as kids make their out the door.