Orange County Register

Wendy Black of Phoenix captures sunset in San Clemente.

The weak, dry winds that have been blowing in from the desert off-and-on for the past few weeks will tick upwards today and Tuesday, sending Orange County’s inland temperatures to 80 or above — warmer than it is expected to be in Atlanta and Dallas, says the National Weather Service. Coastal highs will hit the mid-70s and skies will be mostly clear.Most places will be 2 to 5 degrees above normal, and the fog that unexpectedly developed along the coast overnight should be gone by 9 a.m.  in most places.

What happens after Tuesday, though, is a matter that’s giving forecasters headaches, as we noted a couple of days ago.

“A fairly amplified trough develops over the Pacific and moves into California Wednesday and Thursday,” says a weather service advisory. “Past model runs had such limited moisture that rain was not considered much. But recent runs show some light rain for Thursday into Friday morning. The 12Z (computer) model runs show less of it than previous runs, so for now we will not bite on including chances of rain yet.”

The county remains in desperate need of rain. John Wayne Airport has received 3.17” of precipitation since Jan. 1, almost 7” below average.

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