By Reginald Stanley. Posted November 30, 2020, 7:11 PM.

The dry weather that has persisted throughout the region for most of November is expected to continue into at least early December, as stubborn high pressure off the California coast refuses to abate and creates prime conditions for Santa Ana Wind events.

While temperatures have been close to seasonal norms in recent days, the weather pattern remains dry overall as Santa Ana Winds ramp up once again later this week, with the potential remaining likely from Wednesday night through Saturday evening. Critical fire weather conditions will be present during this period, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Fire Weather Watch for inland portions of Southern California, including mountains and foothills. A dry air mass was already in place over the region early this week. East to northeast winds are predicted to strengthen late in the week, with gusts in the 30-40 MPH range throughout the inland valleys and mountains - with more wind-prone areas likely experiencing higher gusts near 50 MPH.

Southern California's only notable storm of the season so far occurred back during the first week of November. Dry, slightly warm weather has taken hold since that time. A persistent upper high pressure ridge, off the California coast, has been responsible for blocking any incoming storms and forecast models suggest this is likely to continue into at least the middle of December.