Far-reaching high pressure along and off the Pacific coast will bring dryweather, not only Wednesday, but for days to come, to California and the DesertSouthwest.From San Francisco to San Diego inland to Las Vegas and Phoenix, dry northerlywind flow will afford midwinter sunshine Wednesday. High temperatures willrange through the 60s near the coast to the 70s in the low deserts.

While one or more storms will cross the Pacific Northwest with some rain andmountain snow between Thursday and the middle of next week, the odds of anysuch weather system taking place farther south will be low.

One wrinkle in the pattern for Southern California is that Santa Ana winds willkick up a few times during the coming days. Late Wednesday through Thursday,for instance, winds will gust to 50 mph in some of the favored locationsthrough passes and below canyons.

By Jim Andrews, AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist