The National Weather Service on Saturday placed parts of San Diego County under a high wind watch beginning Sunday night.
Forecasters said the watch would continue through late Monday night. Southwest to west winds of 45 to 50 mph, with gusts as high as 70 mph, were predicted for impacted areas.
About half of San Diego County, from the mountains east to the Imperial County line, was to be affected by the watch, the weather service said.
The winds were also expected to affect all of San Bernardino County and some mountain and desert areas of Riverside County — including Indio, where the first weekend of the 2018 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival was taking place.
The weather could make driving difficult for anyone returning from the festival Sunday night, as Interstate 10 through the San Gorgonio Pass was predicted to be especially windy, according to the weather service. Interstate 8 through the East County mountains will also be impacted.
Urban areas of San Diego, which are not included in the high wind watch’s boundaries, were expected to see wind speeds no higher than about 25 mph, forecasters said.
